Firefighters remain at scene of Arthur's Seat blaze

Independent

7 hours ago

Firefighters remain at the scene of a gorse blaze on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh which broke out on Sunday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 4.05pm on August 10.
Fire crews worked through the night tackling the blaze and three appliances were still dealing with the incident by late morning on Monday.
Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky from the hill, an extinct volcano in Holyrood Park to the south-east of the city centre.
Experts said that most wildfires in Scotland are caused by the actions of people, whether malicious or otherwise.
There were no reports of any casualties.
Dr Rory Hadden, Rushbrook senior lecturer in fire investigation at the University of Edinburgh, said wildfires are becoming more frequent due to climate and land use change.
He said there needs to be more awareness of wildfire risk and that careful thought must be given to how landscapes are managed and how to minimise the consequences of wildfires when they do happen.
Dr Hadden said: 'Wildfires in and around Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh occur relatively often. Like this one, these typically burn relatively small areas (compared to other wildfires in Scotland) but can have relatively large impacts due to the location and proximity to people – the plume of smoke can exacerbate respiratory conditions as well as the direct danger to those on the hill.
'It has been very dry in Edinburgh this year. This means that vegetation – particularly dead growth from previous years – is very dry. The weather in Edinburgh has been reasonably good recently (sunny and warm) but with quite strong winds.
'This all acts to dry out even more of the dead vegetation, making it easy to ignite – and once ignited, for the fire to spread rapidly. Especially on the steep terrain of Arthur's Seat.
'The location is popular with visitors and locals alike and with it being a nice day yesterday it was very busy. We know that most fires in Scotland are started by the actions of people (malicious or otherwise).
'The large number of people visiting and the very dry conditions are therefore a good mix for a wildfire to start and to spread. But it is too early to identify the specific cause of the fire in this instance.
'More generally we are seeing increases in wildfires in the UK due to climate and land use change.'