The emergency services in the Cairngorms had “all resources necessary” to tackle wildfires, the Justice Secretary has said amid backlash to the Scottish Government’s response.
Neil Gray said the Scottish Government would also be “reviewing” its response to wildfires.
His comments come as the UK Government offered military support to tackle the Cairngorms wildfire following a request by Mr Gray.
Douglas Alexander, the Scottish Secretary, told Mr Gray that specialist resources will be made available upon request, including Chinook helicopters for logistical and heavy-lift capacity and support from UK stand-by battalions.
However, First Minister John Swinney said the UK Government’s offer was unnecessary.
Mr Swinney said the Scottish Government had requested aerial support to drop water on the fire but was told that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) did not have such equipment.
Speaking to the Press Association, Mr Swinney said: “The Scottish Government asked the UK Government for help in one particular issue, which was about aerial firefighting capacity – that is, to drop water from helicopters onto the fire.
“The UK Government does not have such resources – that’s the only thing that we need, we don’t need any other help.
“We’ve got all the help we need on the ground, but we just needed additional aerial water spreading capacity and the UK Government doesn’t have that – I’m not rejecting anything, they just haven’t got anything to offer us.”
Mr Gray said he had been given assurances from the emergency services that they had “all resources necessary” throughout the wildfire incident.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast, he said: “I would say that throughout this process, I have been given assurances from emergency services that they have all the resources necessary from the earliest point in the incident, and the only element that was requested additionally is aerial water bombing capable support over the weekend.
“That’s why we made the request to the UK Government for military assistance specifically for that element, and we are now aware that the UK does not have that military capability, and so we could not get further support or assistance.
“But I want to provide reassurance to residents in the vicinity that at all points we have had all the resource necessary on the ground, deployable and available in order to tackle this place.”
Residents of Nethy Bridge who were evacuated on Friday night were told they could return home on Sunday.
Police Scotland said on Saturday night it was no longer treating the fire as a major incident.
Also speaking on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast, Sandy McCook, chairman of the Nethy Bridge and vicinity community council, criticised the Scottish Government’s response to the wildfire.
He said: “I’m very disappointed in the Scottish Government’s response in general to this.
“Had we asked for UK resources a week ago, when this fire was clearly running away from the fire and rescue service, regardless of what was said by Neil Gray that they had sufficient equipment, etc, we wouldn’t have been still here fighting it now if that had been the case.”
On Sunday afternoon, firefighters said an “intensive operation” is still under way but better weather conditions, including heavy rain and low winds, have slowed the fire and limited its spread.
More than 75 firefighters remain at the scene, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said.
Mr Gray said the Scottish Government would be “learning” from the wildfires in the Cairngorms and elsewhere in the UK and Europe.
He continued: “There’s one in Derbyshire that has been raging for a month, there is one in the Peak District that has been going for over a fortnight, one in Wales that’s been almost a week, and we can see the impact of wildfires in France and Spain.
“We are needing to deal with a different dynamic here. Of course, the Scottish Government is reviewing … our resources and our response to wildfires, and we will certainly use learning from what has happened in the Cairngorms to do so.”
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