A wildfire at an iconic beauty spot overlooking the Scottish capital of Edinburgh had largely been brought under control on Monday after tourists and walkers had been forced to evacuate while firefighters battled the flames.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said that its teams were alerted to the fire at the hill, Arthur’s Seat, an extinct volcano with views over Edinburgh’s Old Town, shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday. The firefighters worked to tackle the flames through the night.
On Monday morning, the service issued a statement saying that crews were still working “to dampen down hot spots” and that visitors were advised to stay away from the area.
The service said that there had been no reports of casualties from the fire, which spread through a “large area of gorse” on the hillside.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but Neil MacLennan, a commander in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, told BBC radio that he could “pretty much be certain” that it was the result of “some form of human behavior.”
“It’s very rare for any natural wildfires to start in this country,” he added. “How that manifested we don’t know at this stage but there will have been some form of human interaction and that’s part of the risk for that area — it is a busy area.”
Climbing Arthur’s Seat, 822 feet above sea level, is a popular activity for tourists, locals and students, and the hike featured in the recent Netflix adaptation of David Nicholls’s romantic novel “One Day.”
The fire broke out during one of the busiest weekends of the year in Edinburgh, which is hosting its annual cultural festival. The rock band Oasis is also playing several sold-out concerts in the city.
Dr. Rory Hadden, a senior lecture in fire investigation at the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement that fires “occur relatively often” on and around Arthur’s Seat and that they were normally “relatively small.”
He noted that unusually dry weather in Edinburgh had caused vegetation to dry out and become “easy to ignite.”
“We know that most fires in Scotland are started by the actions of people, malicious or otherwise,” Dr. Hadden said. “The large number of people visiting and the very dry conditions are therefore a good mix for a wildfire to start and to spread.”
The blaze followed months of unusually warm weather and lower than average rainfall in Scotland. There has also been a series of wildfires in the Scottish Highlands, which local authorities said were the largest in the country’s history.
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