News / Wildfire warning
FOLLOWING one of the wettest winters on record, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s is urging local people to be on their guard and help reduce the risks of wildfire incidents on the islands.
Last year firefighters were called to deal with hundreds of wildfire/grassfire incidents across Scotland, including Shetland.
Local senior officer for the western isles, Shetland and Orkney, Billy Wilson, said: “We want people to act responsibly in a countryside environment, such as properly disposing of smoking materials to prevent these fires happening in the first place.
“We had a number of large wildfires last year which affected areas of the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.”
Last year, the SFRS attended 333 grass, heather and heathland fire incidents in the north of Scotland between the end of March and 15 April. Five of these wildfires were in Shetland.
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