Firefighters battle massive gorse bush fireplace in a single day on well-known Edinburgh hillside

Revealed on
11/08/2025 – 20:30 GMT+2

Firefighters in Scotland battled a big brush fireplace in a single day into Monday that broke out on a landmark hill overlooking Edinburgh, with burning gorse bushes sending plumes billowing into the sky.

The fireplace broke out on Arthur’s Seat, a big extinct volcano whose sweeping views over Edinburgh make it one of many metropolis’s hottest landmarks.

Sunday’s fireplace got here as town began the annual Edinburgh Pageant Fringe, the world’s largest efficiency arts pageant.

Emergency providers had been alerted to the blaze late on Sunday afternoon and crews labored via the night time to regulate the blaze.

Scottish Fireplace and Rescue Service Group Commander Niall MacLennan mentioned the hearth affected a big space of gorse bushes, that are thorny evergreen shrubs.

The reason for the blaze stays unclear.

Rory Hadden, an professional in fireplace science within the engineering division on the College of Edinburgh, mentioned most fires in Scotland are began by human actions and famous that Arthur’s Seat was very busy on Sunday.

“The massive variety of individuals visiting and the very dry situations are subsequently a very good combine for a wildfire to start out and to unfold,” he mentioned.

Hadden mentioned wildfires in and round Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh happen comparatively typically. He added that wildfires have gotten extra frequent within the UK as a consequence of local weather and land use modifications.

An analogous fireplace broke out on Arthur’s Seat in 2019, when firefighters battled a blaze there for eight hours.

Further sources • AP