As wildfire risk grows, guess what the SNP has been cutting by £900 million – Jackie Baillie
Wildfires could become an annual disaster unless Scotland’s firefighters get the numbers and resources they need
It’s only the end of July but already it has been a long, hot summer. I’ve enjoyed the sunshine in my Dumbarton constituency – joining day-trippers and holidaymakers on the banks of Loch Lomond and the seafront at Helensburgh. But the truth is that the heat has consequences and poses serious risks.
We have all seen the horrendous images from France and Spain, where rising temperatures have led to massive wildfires – many of which are close to major towns like Almeria and Madrid in Spain and Bordeaux in France. More than 300,000 people have been forced to flee their homes with lives being tragically lost.
But it’s not just on mainland Europe that the rising mercury has led to dangerous and potentially deadly wildfires. As I write, serious wildfires are continuing to rage in the Cairngorm National Park leading to evacuations in Nethy Bridge and other villages.
READ MORE: Climate change: Warning signs across the world suggest the situation is already out of control
Years in the making
The scenes are truly concerning with huge clouds of smoke billowing over the Cairngorm landscape and orange flames burning away in woodland. The need to tackle the profound threat to livelihoods, homes and our environment is totally clear.
But while Scotland’s fire and rescue service has rushed to tackle the blazes bravely, the response from the Scottish government has been much too slow. It took days for the fires to be declared a major incident, and Nethy Bridge Community Council leader Sandy McCook told the BBC: “We had the opportunity to get this fire out last Wednesday, the day it happened. When it was first reported it was the size of a small car. Within an hour, it was the size of a tennis court.”
The UK government has offered military assistance and helicopters to help tackle the blaze and I dearly hope that the Scottish government accepts this help if it is needed. But it’s vital that we understand how we got here.
Mr McCook blames “too many decisions being made in Edinburgh” for the slow response, but the full picture is that this dangerous situation has been years in the making.
Dangerous, wrong-headed decisions
The SNP government at Holyrood has continually cut the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – leaving it under-staffed and under-resourced to meet this challenge. Due to SNP choices, by 2027/28, it is expected that £900 million will have been lost as a result of cumulative fire service budget cuts since 2013, with 1,250 firefighter jobs already gone, and stations and equipment cut across Scotland.
These decisions were dangerous and wrongheaded at the time – now the human cost of them is clear for all to see. The uncomfortable truth of these summer wildfires is that, with climate change continuing apace, we need to prepare for this to become a yearly occurrence across rural Scotland.
We cannot prepare for more wildfires by cutting fire and rescue services to the bone and allowing Edinburgh-centric government bureaucracy to hold back action. When the flames have been quelled and the danger passes, we must make sure that this fiasco is never again repeated or at least the fire is quickly contained.
It’s time to learn lessons before this becomes a yearly disaster.
Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health
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