Follow us on twitter
  • Parts of Scotland receive some of the highest levels of rainfall in Europe, but we also experience periods of intense drying when the danger of wild fires can be severe.
  • Wildfires cause significant damage to agricultural, forestry, biodiversity, recreational and sporting interests, and threaten infrastructure, property, and life
  • Wildfires place a significant operational and cost burden on the Fire and Rescue Service, directly in fighting wildfires, and in the requirement to redeploy resources to maintain geographic coverage
  • The aim of the project is to contribute to the development of a Fire Danger Rating System for the Scottish environment and vegetation
  • Wildfires destroy large and small with impunity
  • Wildfires destroy large and small with impunity
  • Understanding how fires become established and spread in complex vegetation is challenging
  • The project is carrying out field studies to examine fires spread in Scottish vegetation types (Andy Taylor discussing vegetation characteristics with Rory Hadden and colleagues)
  • Determining the quantities and moisture contents of different fuels are integral to modelling potential fire risks
  • Numerous weather, vegetation and soil parameters are included within the rating system model to predict the level of fire risk.

  • Final project report available
    Monday 14th February 2022 15:45

    The Scottish fire danger rating system (SFDRS) final project report is now available:

  • Scottish Fire Danger Rating System - Final Presentation
    Tuesday 25th January 2022 19:30

    Presentation of the final report of the Scottish fire danger rating system project on the 9th of December 2021.

    The slides from this presentation are also available.

    Read more: Scottish Fire Danger Rating System - Final Presentation

  • Long-lasting Colorado Decker Fire Continues to Burn
    Wednesday 16th October 2019 15:30

    The long-lasting Decker fire which began on Sep. 08, 2019, is still continuing to burn on Oct. 16, 2019, in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness of Colorado. The fire started as a lightning strike and has now spread to 8,464 acres and is 30% contained at present. The difficulties in fighting this fire according to Inciweb are: "Low humidity and poor overnight recoveries allowed fuels to continue to dry. Fire spread is primarily driven by wind and spotting is occurring with wind and slope alignment."  Weather is definitely one of the main reasons this fire continues to burn.  Winds today are expected to gust to 20 mph which only further pushes fire constraints beyond containment lines.  Winds and low relative humidity are both culprits in keeping this fire alive.

    Read more: Long-lasting Colorado Decker Fire Continues to Burn

  • Spain battles biggest wildfires in 20 years as heatwave grips Europe
    Tuesday 25th June 2019 17:15

    Firefighters battled wildfires at a scale not seen for 20 years in Spain and southern France was placed on unprecedented red alert as much of western Europe sweltered in an extreme early-summer heatwave on Thursday.

    Read more: Spain battles biggest wildfires in 20 years as heatwave grips Europe

  • Fighting fire with fire to tackle Scotland's wildfires
    Friday 26th April 2019 10:00

    The increasing threat of wildfires has forced the fire service to begin training staff in the fire management method common in hot countries.

    The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) issued 21 wildfire danger warnings last year.

    Read more: Fighting fire with fire to tackle Scotland's wildfires