Baxter: We need a cross-party summit after wildfire

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Skye Lochaber and Badenoch and rural affairs spokesperson Andrew Baxter has today said he will convene a cross-party summit to examine fresh measures for preventing and responding to wildfires and to learn from the fire in the Cairngorms that raged for days.

The MSP criticised the Scottish Government’s response to the Cairngorms wildfire. 

Following the incident, the government delayed chairing a meeting of their Resilience Room by more than a week. Convened at times of national emergency or crisis, the Resilience Room was previously triggered for Storm Eowyn. 

Mr Baxter also pointed out that more needs to be done to properly support the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which has faced swingeing cuts over the last two decades. Since the service was centralised by the SNP in 2013, 1,250 firefighter jobs have been lost.

The Cairngorms wildfire comes just four months after the Scottish Government published a "Strategic Action Plan" which it said would see a coordinated approach to responding to wildfires. 

Andrew Baxter said: 

“The Scottish Government’s response to the Cairngorms wildfire has fallen short. 

“The blaze has been described as apocalyptic, but ministers failed to recognise it as an emergency for more than a week. In that time, the fire spread across one of the country’s most treasured national parks, with smoke blowing all the way out to Aberdeen. 

“This was the first major test of the new action plan that the government paraded earlier this year. It deserves to be looked at again in light of what happened here.

“I've already highlighted how the current system for mobilising specialist helicopter resources didn't match up to the challenge we've faced.

“We also need to end the era of cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, making sure they are properly resourced and able to respond to incidents in good time. 

“I want to work with our fire and rescue teams, local authority partners, environmental experts and MSPs across parliament to make sure that the next time a wildfire breaks out, we are fully prepared.” 

Morven-May MacCallum, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said:

“This fire has caused significant disruption and damage, forcing families from their homes.

“Those communities at the heart of this deserve clarity on what went wrong. Whether that’s the delay in convening the government’s resilience room, or the decision to turn down legitimate offers of support as the fire spread.

“Ultimately, these communities have been let down by a slow and inadequate response from the government. They deserve straight answers and a concrete action plan that is ready when the next fire comes.”