Third-day Cairngorms wildfire forces evacuations across Scottish Highlands

Firefighters spent a third day tackling a wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park after the blaze spread across nearly four miles of ground and forced evacuations in the Scottish Highlands. The fire began in heathland at Ryvoan Bothy, near Nethy Bridge, late on Wednesday morning and has moved across more than 3.5km of dry land.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said it had committed “adequate resources” to the incident, with four fire appliances and specialist wildfire resources mobilised after Operations Control was first alerted at 11.49am. Officials urged the public to stay away from the area as crews worked across land near Glenmore and Aviemore, where villagers, campsites and some businesses were affected.

The disruption has extended beyond the burn area itself. Homes and businesses in Glenmore Forest Park, including campsites and ski resorts, were closed and evacuated as a precaution, adding pressure to a region that depends heavily on tourism, outdoor recreation and seasonal trade. For local operators, the fire cut directly across the summer economy that brings visitors to the park for walking, camping and mountain access.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority has long treated wildfire as a growing risk. Its wildfire-management material says fires and barbecues are banned across the national park, and the authority has an Integrated Wildfire Management Plan in place. That approach reflects a change that is becoming harder to ignore in places once seen as less exposed to large-scale fire: dry heathland, wind and prolonged heat can turn popular upland landscapes into fast-moving fire grounds.

The current blaze has also sharpened warnings across Scotland more broadly. Very high wildfire risk has been reported for parts of the central Highlands, southern Scotland and eastern Scotland, underscoring how fire danger is now reaching communities far beyond the small number of areas traditionally associated with it. In the Cairngorms, the fire has become a test of land management, emergency capacity and how quickly local systems can respond when a rural fire stretches over several days.