Does Scotland have the helicopters it needs to fight wildfires?

Sandy McCook, of Nethy Bridge community council, said: “The Scottish government said it had learnt the lessons after Dava Moor.

“Well I’m sorry, but the lessons have not been learnt.

“It is untenable the position they are taking that they have enough equipment. It is helicopters that are needed.”

Andrew Baxter, Lib Dem MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, has taken the matter Scotland’s Justice Secretary Neil Gray.

Baxter says both the Scottish and UK governments should look at “publicly available” firefighting aircraft during the wildfire season, rather than relying on private operators.

“At the moment it takes too long to get support to where it is needed,” he said.

“We risk seeing serious loss of life unless we have a robust fire plan with aircraft that can be called upon at short notice.”

Neil Gray told the BBC that fire chiefs told him they had access to “all the resources needed” to contain the Cairngorms blaze.

But he said if there were “requests and innovations” over the growing threat of wildfires, he would discuss this with the SFRS.

He added: “I’m incredibly proud of the response from officers.”