More than 1,500 wildfires in decade must be ‘wake-up call’, Tories say

More than 1,500 wildfires have been recorded in Scotland in the past decade, figures show, with the Conservatives warning the data must be a “wake-up call” for ministers.

Statistics from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service released to the party under freedom of information legislation show 1,574 wildfires between 2015 and the end of May this year.

The Highlands suffered most, reporting 574 fires during that period, followed by 131 in the Western Isles. That compares with just seven in Renfrewshire and Clackmannanshire.

The statistics also show the first five months of 2025 have already seen more wildfires reported than in any other full year apart from 2017 and 2018.

It comes as a report from Scottish Land & Estates found two wildfires last year, at Carrbridge and Dava in the Highlands, were the biggest in Scotland’s history.

Scottish Tory rural affairs spokesman Tim Eagle said it was “disgraceful” it took rural affairs minister Jim Fairlie three weeks to visit areas impacted by recent blazes.

He said: “These figures need to be an urgent wake-up call for ministers like him to change their approach.”

He welcomed that the Scottish Government’s controls on muirburn had been delayed by a year, but urged the First Minister to ensure rural areas “won’t be harmed further by misguided legislation and that the SNP’s actions do not increase the threat these communities are increasingly facing from wildfires”.

Muirburn – the controlled burning of vegetation on peatland – can help to limit wildfires, with the Scottish Government’s new licensing scheme for the practice due to be in place this year.

Mr Eagle added: “This alarming rise in wildfire numbers raises significant concern about the growing threat they are posing to rural Scotland in particular.

“Areas like the Highlands are already facing huge challenges but are now having to brace themselves every time there is a spell of good weather.

“The recent wildfires we saw across the Highlands had a devastating impact across our landscape.”