Arthur's Seat fire: Huge overnight blaze adds further wildfire scars to Edinburgh's Holyrood Park
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Huge fire adds wildfire scars to Holyrood Park in Edinburgh
A huge blaze has devastated parts of Holyrood Park after breaking out on Sunday evening – adding further wildfire scars to the Edinburgh beauty spot.
Emergency services rushed to the scene on Sunday evening. Four fire appliances were on the scene from around 7pm on Sunday – having been alerted to the wildfire at around 6.38pm.
The capital’s skyline glowed burnt orange as crews battled a major blaze in Holyrood Park on Sunday night into Monday morning – with reports of the fire being visible from across the Forth and into Burntisland.
Despite the fire being appearing to be largely extinguished by Monday afternoon, it later reignited prompting a further effort to extinguish the blaze before it spread.
It is the third wildfire in 12 months to take hold of the area.
Fire crews are expected to remain at Holyrood Park over the coming days, according to officials, as they continue to dampen down hotspots.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Monday morning, assistant chief officer John Henderson of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “The fire on Arthur’s Seat, at the minute, is about 0.01 kilometres squared.
“Protracted wildfire incidents, they’re weather-driven, we deal with them in partnership, they take a protracted period of time to deal with them.
“We tend to be there for protracted periods of time, even after the fire is extinguished to make sure that we’re maintaining the hotspots.”
He continued: “The feeling from the ground there is that we’ll probably be there for a couple of days, continuing to tackle that and dampen out hotspots from those.”
He said the cause of the fire is not yet known, with crews focused on containing and extinguishing the blazes before an investigation can be carried out.
While he accepted “sometimes these things happen”, the senior fire officer urged residents to take precautions when outdoors in hot weather.
“In any of the areas where we’ve got wildfire warnings, or as I said on Arthur’s Seat, we don’t advocate any open flames.
“So, no sources that could start a spark – so no use of barbecues, no open fires, nothing along those lines, and really tidy up after yourself.”
The huge blaze and its aftermath saw roads around the area closed off. Police Scotland said it had closed off roads around Arthur’s Seat and Holyrood Park.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Queens Drive remains closed following a fire in the open at Arthur’s Seat, reported to us around 7pm on Sunday, 19 July.
“Emergency services remain in attendance, and the public should avoid the area.
“Residents in the local area should keep windows and doors closed.”
Holyrood Park is owned by the Scottish Ministers, and is managed by Historic Environment Scotland. The heritage body said it was “incredibly saddened” by the scenes from Sunday night.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: “We are incredibly saddened that Holyrood Park has once again been affected by a wildfire, which broke out yesterday evening, on the slope between the Scottish Parliament and St Leonard’s.
“We know many people will be upset to see the impact on Arthur’s Seat and the surrounding landscape, particularly given the increasing frequency of wildfires during periods of hot, dry weather. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
“We ask everyone to avoid the affected area and follow any advice from emergency services, who are still on site. The fire is currently contained and there have been no reports of any injuries.”
HES went on to thank its rangers and emergency services who responded to the fire.
In footage captured by a passenger arriving into Edinburgh Airport, the extent of the fire was visible from the sky. The crescent shaped inferno appeared to stretch across the north side of Holyrood Park and Salisbury Crags.
Michael McClarron – who was travelling back to the city from France – caught the dramatic footage of the fire. He said he wasn’t shocked to see Salisbury Crags on fire again.
Mr McClarron said: “For me being a local I wasn't too shocked to see it on fire again! Few gasps on the plane as we have travelled home from France for a family wedding with a plane with a lot of French tourists on board.”