Fire crews battle blaze on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
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Fire crews battle blaze on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh - Published Fire crews have spent the night battling a large blaze on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh. Small plumes of smoke can still be seen along Salisbury Crags with large swathes of vegetation below the cliff face burned black after the fire broke out at about 18:40 on Sunday. Six appliances were in attendance, with firefighters seen dousing the flames. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said there were "no reported casualties" but Police Scotland has closed Queens Drive, the road that encircles the Holyrood Park hills, to all vehicles. Jon Henderson, SFRS assistant chief officer, said the service had dealt with a number of incidents over the course of the weekend. "We've had crews at Arthur's Seat since about 15:00 on Sunday afternoon and then overnight," he told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast. "At first light we stepped up that response again when the conditions were favourable for that. "The feeling from the ground there is that we will probably be there for a couple of days continuing to tackle it and dampen out hotspots." Henderson said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the fire. "Our focus at the moment is dealing with the fire and the response but there will be a full fire investigation," he said. "The difficulty we have with open fires is that they can be difficult to assess where they started because of the scale and sometimes these do happen naturally." 1 of 5 Cairngorms wildfire It is the latest wildfire call out for the Scottish fire service during the recent stretch of warm, dry weather. Hundreds of firefighters, two helicopters and specialist resources were sent to the Cairngorms National Park where a blaze has been ongoing for four days. Six square kilometres of land had been affected resulting in homes and businesses, including campsites and a ski resort in the Glenmore Forest Park area, being evacuated as a safety precaution. A high volume pump has been used to draw water from Loch Morlich to support firefighting efforts. On Sunday, fire crews said the fire was now "surrounded" and police began escorting residents and campers back to properties and campsites to collect personal belongings. Henderson said resources remain on site but "significant progress" has been made. "The activity over the rest of the day is to maintain a four kilometre long fire break and to search out and extinguish hotspots," he added. Get involved Your news, your pictures Related topics - Published14 hours ago
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