WILDFIRES raging across the country signal communities across Scotland are on the front line of the climate crisis, according to one Green MSP.

The comments come as fire crews continue to battle a blaze in West Lothian which broke out at the weekend. A helicopter and around 50 firefighters were dispatched to woodland outside the town of Fauldhouse on Saturday afternoon, and remained there a day later as the fire continued to rage. 

Warning locals to keep windows and doors closed due to the noxious smoke, a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 11.43am on Saturday to reports of a large outdoor fire affecting a remote area of forest near Fauldhouse, West Lothian, we currently have nine appliances on scene as firefighters continue to work to extinguish the fire.”

Expressing her gratitude to fire crews, Scottish Green MSP Ariane Burgess warned: “Some of these fires have raged for days at a time and have done a huge amount of damage to local livelihoods and habitats. But, most importantly, they have put people in serious danger.

“Scotland is blessed with amazing and iconic landscapes.

“But they are also homes and places where people live and work, and, with our climate changing around us, they are being put at growing risk and thrust on to the front line of the climate crisis.

“It’s not just Scotland. We have seen heatwaves and wildfires across the world and, without fundamental change, the threat will only become more severe. 

“All of this underlines the need for preventative steps to climate-proof our society and to step up climate action if we are to ensure that the devastating scenes at Fauldhouse do not become our new normal.”