Scotland declares major incident over Cairngorms wildfire

Scottish firefighters were battling a wildfire on Saturday in Cairngorms National Park in northern Scotland, while authorities advised local people to evacuate.

Scottish police declared a major incident over the fire. The blaze has spread across about 600 hectares, or 1,500 acres, of heather and brush in the Highland park since it was declared 10 days earlier.

More than 500 firefighters have been deployed, along with helicopters, to fight the fire in the Cairngorms, a mountain range west of Aberdeen that has long attracted tourists.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney chaired a crisis meeting on Friday evening and described the response as a complex and difficult situation. In a post on X on Saturday, he said a change in wind direction overnight had reduced the immediate threat to Nethy Bridge, a Highland village.

Authorities ordered the village's population of about 650 to leave as a precaution. Firefighters said other residents in nearby remote areas were also being evacuated on Saturday morning.

Local resident John McGlinchey told the BBC he was disappointed that residents were having to wait until flames were nearly at their doorstep and relocate at short notice.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service also advised people in villages close to the fire to keep windows and doors closed because of smoke from the wildfire.