'Muirburn does reduce fire risk' - Scottish fire service calls on landowners to be vigilant in wildfire season

Weather conditions in spring can lead to the outbreak of wildfires across Scotland.

Scotland’s landowners must keep fire risk in mind when managing the land as wildfire season unfolds, a fire chief has said.

The country is more vulnerable to wildfires between March and June, with vegetation build up over winter and drier conditions providing prime conditions for flames to spread.

Several warnings have already been issued in the last two months, with crews attending at least one wildfire, near Inverness on Friday, so far this year.

Area Commander Michael Humphreys, lead for wildfires at Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, urged landowners and managers to think about fire breaks, both natural or made, to prevent risk, adding: “The correct land management is key.”

He said the fire service noticed “lots of muirburn activity” going on at the time of the first wildfire warning of the year.

Muirburn is the controlled burning of moorland vegetation between September and March to encourage new growth, either heather or grassland, for the management of moorland game and wildlife. It has also been used for generations as a technique to prevent wildfires as it creates fire breaks in the land.

Mr Humphreys, who said advice was kept quite general given “the vast variety of use of land” in Scotland, added: “Muirburn does reduce fire risk by creating fire breaks.

“Hopefully the activity we saw means our message, in terms of the wildfire risk and creating fire breaks, is getting out there.

“One of the licensable purposes for muirburn is to reduce the risk of wildfire, so there’s acceptance that muirburn can reduce the risk of wildfire.

“Our crews also get training on back-burning, which is different terminology, but essentially that’s what we do too.

“We have the capability to create a fire break by burning a strip of land where the fire is coming to, so when the fire gets to that bit the fire will go out. It’s a land management tool.”

Muirburn has been controversial in Scotland when it comes to land management, particularly because of its links to driven grouse shooting estates.

Mr Humphreys said where muirburn is not considered appropriate by land managers, SFRS sees rewetting of the land.

“If an area is wet, it’s less likely to catch fire,” he said.

“We can still have fires where the ground is wet because the vegetation on top might not be, so a fire can still rip through the dry vegetation.

“It really depends on the make up of the land.

“With Scotland being so vast in its land and practice of land, it’s not just one method.”

Duncan Orr-Ewing, of RSPB Scotland, said areas of blanket bog restored by the charity land showed signs of stopping fires spreading.

The SFRS said the main cause of wildfires, according to its data, was human-related.

Mr Humphreys added: “When we say most of the fires we attend are due to human factors, people could incorrectly assume that’s because of muirburn, but that is not the case.

“We don’t have the evidence to suggest that people muirburning are causing the fires. The human factor includes deliberate fires, smoking, cigarettes, glass, BBQs, campfires. They are the main causes according to our data over the last ten years.”

A Scottish Government-funded James Hutton Institute study of muirburn and wildfires released earlier this year found evidence of wildfires over 442 sq km of Scotland’s moorlands over a five-year period, with 96 per cent of them outside of muirburn areas.