Residents in Edinburgh and central areas urged to 'exercise extreme caution' as risk of wildfires very high
A ‘very high risk’ of wildfires remains in place for Edinburgh today with emergency services urging residents to ‘exercise extreme caution’.
A warning was in place for the whole of Scotland between August 22 and 25 but remains in place for central and eastern areas for the remainder of today (Tuesday, August 26).
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said wildfires have the potential to burn for days and devastate vast areas of land and wildlife, with the ‘vast majority of wildfires caused by human behaviour’.
SFRS group commander Mark Landels said: "This summer has been especially dry, and we are urging people to avoid using anything involving a naked flame outdoors. In dry conditions, even a small fire from a discarded cigarette or an unattended campfire has the potential to quickly grow out of control.
"The vast majority of wildfires are started by human behaviour, so acting responsibly can lower the chance of a fire starting in the first place."
On Sunday, August 10, fire crews rushed to Arthur’s Seat after a significant gorse fire took hold at the Edinburgh beauty spot with the SFRS remaining on site for six days.
Earlier in the month, Scottish Fire and Rescue service group commander, Neil MacLennan, told the BBC: "It's very rare for any natural wildfires to start in this country. How that manifested we don't know at this stage but there will have been some form of human interaction and that's part of the risk for that area – it is a busy area.”