Estates back brigade’s plan to fight wildfires with fire
● Landowners say controlled burning cuts spread danger
Scottish landowners and estate workers have backed plans by fire fighters to use controlled burning to cut the risk of deadly wildfires.
The method is used in hot countries where there is a serious threat of fire outbreaks.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service( S FR S) announced it has begun training staff in the fire management method, which involves lighting fires in strategic areas to destroy the fuel source – typically heather or grass – that allows them to spread.
The move comes after unseas o n a b l y d r y w e a t h e r s a w a s p a t e o f b l a z e s b r e a k o u t across the country.
Land managers have welcomed the initiative, which they say is proven to reduce the likelihood of fires taking hold.
They claim the latest muirburn season shows the effectiveness of the method.
Muirburning entails burning strips of vegetation on a r o t a t i o n a l b a s i s a n d i s t r a - ditionally used on sho oting estates to improve the habitat for game birds such as grouse.
The custom is controversial and has attracted criticism from conservationists.
“The practice of muirburn has been established for generations and is conducted to t h e h i g h e s t mo d e r n s t a n dards,” said Tim Baynes, moorland director at membership association S cottish Land & Estates.
“Muirburn is based on sound science a nd we know fr om experience that wildfires will usually stop when they reach a managed grouse moor.
“This season we have seen s e ve r a l m a j o r w i l d f i r e s i n Scotland but we understand none of them were related to muirburn for grouse management. Muirburn on grouse moors rarely causes wildfires and actually helps to prevent them.”
Iain Hepburn, head gamekeeper at Dunmaglass Estate, is also a part-time firefighter with SFRS.
“Controlled seasonal burning and cutting are effective methods to reduce the risk of damage from wildfires by providing breaks in continuous moorland cover and reducing the fuel load,” he said.
SFRS has warned that wildf i r e s a r e l i k e l y t o b e c o m e more common in Scotland as a result of climate change.
Te a ms h ave a l r e a dy d e a l t with a numb er of wildfires this year, with eight major incidents since 18 April alone.
A massive blaze on a hillside in Moray, which broke out on Easter Monday and burned for several days, was one of the biggest to hit the UK.