Scottish ministers knew the UK military had no aerial firefighting ability when they requested assistance to battle the Cairngorms wildfire, the Justice Secretary has said.
In a statement to Holyrood, Neil Gray said the Scottish Government knew “informally” that the military “did not have such assets in the UK”.
But he said the request was made because the Government wanted to explore “every option”.
Meanwhile, agriculture minister Jim Fairlie has said he would press the UK Government on making the temporary nationwide ban on disposable barbeques permanent, something Mr Gray said he supported.
During his speech, Mr Gray said Scotland’s fire service will now “be in a position to put helicopter resources on standby as soon as the wildfire danger assessment process indicates a need to do so” and would have the ability to “immediately mobilise these assets directly in support of firefighting operations”.
“We are also commencing work immediately to improve aerial support availability, including options for four-nations collaboration and military support,” he added.
The Justice Secretary said while aerial support was “not a silver bullet”, it was “a matter of record that helicopter firefighting assets were not available at the beginning of this wildfire and only came on site within around 36 hours after the start of the incident”.
He went on: “There were times during the wildfire when additional aerial water bombing would have been helpful to supplement the resources already being provided by commercial operators under contract.
“This is why we requested military assistance for this specific purpose at the request of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).
“Although we had been aware informally that the UK military did not have such assets in the UK, the position we were in was one of exploring every option to put the required support in place.
“I believed then, and I believe now, that it was right to put that request to the UK Government formally to allow them to explore every option for what was possible, including repatriating any assets based overseas.”
Mr Gray stressed the importance of preventing wildfires, including measures around the banning of disposable barbecues in the Cairngorms National Park.
He welcomed UK Government measures to temporarily ban the sale of single-use barbecues.
He said: “This is something I believe needs to be considered on a more permanent basis when there is a risk of wildfires.”
Mr Fairlie told Parliament earlier on Thursday that the Scottish Government will push for permanent restrictions on disposable barbecues.
Mr Gray said the Government was providing £3 million for businesses impacted by the fire while a multi-agency review on the response to the wildfire is set to take place.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “When the request for assistance was received, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Defence Secretary worked at speed to identify options for assistance, including deploying Chinook helicopters, enhanced liaison support and support from UK stand-by battalions.
“The Scottish Government was made aware of the assistance available and decided not to accept.”
Earlier this week, a report by Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) warned the Cairngorms wildfire “exposed a dangerous weakness” in Scotland’s wildfire response.
The rural business organisation found more than 3,300 hectares were burned in the Glenmore-Strathnethy wildfire – with more than 40 businesses and organisations and £6.4 million of private-sector equipment involved in the response efforts.
The report for the Scottish Government found more than 300 days of volunteering work were recorded to tackle the wildfire as SLE is calling for an urgent shift from ad hoc assistance to a formal, exercised wildfire capability system.
The fire started in the Glenmore area near Aviemore on July 15 and saw more than 500 firefighters involved in the response, with crews leaving the scene on August 18.
The wildfire burned across 10 square miles (25 square km) of moorland and forestry.
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