BBC headlining those dreadful fires in Spain and France……

[Malxwal]

Jesus wept...

 

[countrryboy]

Get used to it , this will become more common in years too come.
We got a licence this year for one fire. Roughly 20 x 50 yard.
Theres a huge fuel burden just sat getting dryer and dryer.
Sure we can cut where you can get with a tractor but it's not as effective .
Heather beetle has left thousands of acres of dead , dry heather that should be getting burned in a controlled way.
Rules made by people sat in Westminster who have no idea of the impact of not allowing controlled burning in the uplands.

Drum how does the new muirburn licence work?
Im a wee bit out of touch nowadays.
Not worked my mutts on a moor since covid.
Miss it, just not got the time off work nor the dog power anymore.

Do u have to mark in a map exactly wot areas u want to burn?
Sort of like a farmers field cropping map.

So they have gave u a 20x50m area, is that a total for ur hill or the largest area/patch u can burn?
Not to bad if that's ur largest patch but can burn loads of them spread out.
That's only 1/4 a fitba park or 1/4 acre.
But not good if that's ALL ur allowed to burn.

They go on about climate change use less diesel etc.
So they are restricting a time served method that the upland plants thrive and improved with, and is carbon neutral..save for a bit of petrol in quad/argo and some kerosene in torch.

For the 'new' way a great big heavy tractor on soft ground cutting straight lines.
Running a swipe of flail takes a decent powered tractor ( so heavy) and hard on them so be burning plenty of diesel.

From wot I've been told the vegetation does not respond the same way either.
A lot of seeds in the soil respond to the slight heat from the fire and germinate.
Seeds that will have been dormant for years since the last burn as they knew no point in germinating if no fire= no light.

But has human actions speeded up that change?

1966 Glasgow airport opened up.
2024 there were 78k flights (in+out)

Having moved out of coal burning and the smogs of the 50s has aviation travel created something else?

To be honest whether or not their as been climate change
And if so is it man made sure both irrelevant questions with respect to wild fires.

Yes they will be worse in hot dry years.
But it only needs to be hot and dry, which is normalise summer weather once every year or 2 and ur going g to have big problems with wild fires.
U can't control the climate.
And sadly u cant control fcukwits coming into the countryside, which are coming in larger numbers every year.

Only thing u can do is manage the fuel load.
Possibly we need to think about high risk areas, camp sites, car parks etc and mow/flail some rides around, to act as firebreaks.
Possibly the same around forest edges where possible.

It is going g to happen as its happened for hundreds of years before. Just need to appreciate it will happen and try to mitigate it the best u can.
Hopefully without too much impact on wildlife or scenery

 

[Mungo]

…..while Abernethy burns. (It’s not the south or Europe so it doesn’t count)

By most global standards, the Cairngorms fire is neither very big nor very damaging.

It wouldn’t register in the local news in most countries.

 

[Malxwal]

By most global standards, the Cairngorms fire is neither very big nor very damaging.

It wouldn’t register in the local news in most countries.

The physical size isn't really the point. It's the politics that are relevant, the responsibility of land ownership and the lack thereof .