Swinney must convene Resilience Room amid Cairngorms wildfire

As the Cairngorms wildfire enters its tenth day, Liberal Democrats MSPs have called on the Scottish Government to convene its Resilience Room and look at declaring a national emergency.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room is convened at times of national emergency or crisis.

The equivalent of Cobra meetings, it was used to coordinate responses to wildfires in 2025, as well as to Storm Eowyn and the Covid-19 pandemic.  

By triggering the resilience room, the Scottish Government can request military assistance with its response.

More than 100 firefighters have been tackling a huge blaze in the Cairngorms National Park.

The fire has led to the evacuation of residents and tourists.  

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has said that some parts of Aberdeenshire, including Aberdeen city, may see or smell smoke on Friday and into the weekend.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch Andrew Baxter said:

“This a very fast-moving and unpredictable situation, with the fire still raging across the Cairngorms and smoke blowing out to the North East.

“The Scottish Government should be using ever lever at its disposal to support the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and help them coordinate an effective response.

“The resilience room has been triggered for other wildfires and major weather incidents, so there is no reason why it shouldn’t be the same here.

“The terrain in the Cairngorms is hugely challenging for the firefighters on the ground, which is why we also need to explore having publicly available firefighting aircraft during the wildfire season, rather than relying on private operators.

“Extreme weather like this is devastating. We need a government that is properly prepared.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the North East region Yi-pei Chou Turvey said:

“People in the North East are feeling very concerned by the latest wildfire developments. Many cannot understand why the government has failed to coordinate an emergency response.

“Doing so at an earlier stage could have opened up invaluable resources for the Scottish Fire and Rescue service, helping them to tackle the blaze.

“John Swinney should now do the right thing and trigger the emergency response so that fire and rescue teams and local authorities are fully supported.”