Drone pilots in the Cairngorms National Park are using thermal imaging technology to locate smoldering fires persisting beneath the soil surface, more than two months after a major wildfire devastated the landscape in July. The wildfire burned approximately 3,300 hectares of land at its peak, requiring five experienced drone operators to provide aerial reconnaissance to emergency response teams. Although visible flames have disappeared, underground heat sources continue to pose a risk of reignition.
The thermal drones detect heat signatures that would otherwise remain invisible to ground teams, allowing land managers to deploy personnel more efficiently to specific locations rather than conducting broad searches. The technology has proven invaluable for the limited crews working on containment efforts. Site managers report that pinpointing these hot spots enables them to direct limited resources where they are needed most, ensuring that extinguishing efforts can be targeted and effective.
Beyond current fire suppression efforts, the drone program is being expanded to track landscape recovery over time. Operators are programming automated flight paths that will be repeated monthly and annually, allowing conservationists to document ecological changes across the damaged terrain. The technology may also serve a preventive function by enabling rapid detection of future fires before they spread uncontrollably.
While vegetation shows early signs of regeneration and ground-level ecological recovery is beginning, the timeline for full landscape restoration remains uncertain. Conservation authorities acknowledge that some recovery processes will unfold over years or decades. Meanwhile, firefighting operations continue, with teams systematically addressing each subsurface hot spot discovered by the drone reconnaissance flights.
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