Fire Burns 2,500 Hectares in the Cairngorms in Scotland
A big fire burned for more than a month in the Cairngorms, and small fires still burn in the ground
A big fire burned in the Cairngorms in Scotland.
It burned for more than a month.
It destroyed more than 2,500 hectares of moorland and forest.
People in one village had to leave their homes.
People in Aberdeen, 60 miles away, saw and smelt the smoke.
The firefighters left one week ago. But small fires still burn in the ground.
The nature group RSPB Scotland will make wider fire breaks. It will also make more ponds and plant more trees.
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RSPB Scotland Plans New Fire Breaks After Five-Week Cairngorms Fire
The charity wants wider fire breaks, more ponds and more trees after a fire destroyed 2,500 hectares
A huge fire burned for more than a month in the Cairngorms in Scotland. It destroyed more than 2,500 hectares of moorland and forest, which is about 10 square miles.
An entire village had to leave, and people could see and smell the smoke 60 miles (96.5km) away in Aberdeen. Firefighters left a week ago, but small hot-spots still appear in the ground because the burning has not completely stopped.
Ben Oliver-Jones is the RSPB Scotland site manager at the Abernethy nature reserve. When he sees smoke, he stops his pickup truck and looks at the ground. He says it is like a game of whack-a-mole.
The charity is now going to make four changes. It will make its fire breaks wider, create more ponds for water, manage the heather, and plant more trees. Experts say fire in heather can reach six metres, so fire breaks must be three times the flame height.
RSPB Scotland does not do muirburn, the controlled burning of heather, but it agrees that vegetation must be managed. It uses cattle, because the animals eat the plants.
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After Cairngorms Wildfire, RSPB Scotland Turns to Wildfire Prevention
The charity plans wider fire breaks, new wetlands, heather management and more broadleaved trees at Abernethy
A week after firefighters left the Cairngorms, small pockets of vegetation are still smouldering. Ben Oliver-Jones, RSPB Scotland's site manager at the Abernethy nature reserve, compares the hot-spots to a game of whack-a-mole in a charred landscape where the smell of burning still hangs in the air.
The fire, which burned for more than a month, destroyed more than 2,500 hectares of moorland and forest – about 10 square miles. An entire village was evacuated and the smoke could be seen and smelt 60 miles (96.5km) away in Aberdeen. Attention is now turning to prevention.
The charity has identified changes in four areas: fire breaks, wetlands, heather management and tree planting. The estate's tracks worked as fire breaks in some places, but strong winds helped high flames jump the gap elsewhere. Experts say fire from burning heather can reach six metres and that fire breaks need to be three times the flame height, so machines are removing vegetation beside forest trails. More ponds will be created as a source of water for pumping onto fires.
Roxane Anderson of the University of the Highlands and Islands studied land near Melvich, Sutherland, after a large fire in 2019 and found damage to wet peatland was superficial. She said accelerating peatland restoration, currently targeting 400,000 hectares by 2040, was "a complete no brainer".
Michael Bruce, a wildfire consultant and director of the Glen Tanar estate, says there is no silver bullet, but that estates need to build up layers of defence. He believes there has not been enough UK research on how wildfires behave.
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