Fire crews tackle gorse fires in Wicklow Mountains as illegal burning of vegetation condemned
The Department of Heritage said: “At a time of so much demand on our emergency services this carry-on is criminal and morally reprehensible.”
Your contributions will help us continue to deliver the stories that are important to you
The Department of Heritage said: “At a time of so much demand on our emergency services this carry-on is criminal and morally reprehensible.”
This burning of land is illegal from 1 March to 31 August, but there’s only been 11 prosecutions in over 10 years.
The Air Corps responded in the afternoon but noted that it did not run a dedicated firefighting service.
Donegal Fire Service and gardaí are at the scene.
Firefighters have been battling blazes along the Wicklow-Dublin border since Monday.
Yesterday marked the sixth consecutive day that the Defence Forces deployed the Air Corps to assist firefighting operations.
Thunderstorms were forecast elsewhere but Dublin baked in sunshine as gorse fires rage.
The Irish Wildlife Trust has reported 97 illegal wildfires to the European Commission.
The video shows units of the fire brigade attempting to extinguish the blaze in the Dublin mountains.
Dublin Fire Brigade received over 20 calls reporting the incident.
A recent spate of gorse fires have caused havoc in rural areas around the country.
There have been more than 100 serious gorse and forest fires in recent weeks.
Over 60 gorse fires have occurred since March of this year.
The Irish Wildlife Trust is not impressed with Heather Humphreys.
The Kerry TD has called for a task force of interested parties to come together to deal with upland areas.
The recent fire comes after a blaze last week that lasted for a number of days and burned up to 40 acres of Howth Hill.
Donegal’s fire chief has asked the public to exercise extreme caution to reduce the number of these incidences.
Fires have burnt in several separate areas around Co Galway, when some homes were evacuated as a precaution.
In your Fix this evening: The palace is looking forward to the Queen’s visit but Sinn Féin most definitely is not; the woman who was decapitated in Tenerife yesterday is named; Haiti’s new president takes office; Dylan gets defensive; and Jedward goes global.
The fires which hit various parts of the country earlier this month did €5 million worth of damage to State owned forests with a further €2.4 million worth of damage inflicted on privately owned forests.
Coillte estimates that it will take this much to cover the extra expense from fire fighting, replacement of trees lost and forgone revenue from timber.
The Army continues firefighting efforts as widespread fires continue to blaze in counties Donegal, Sligo and Offaly.
A boy of 10 is questioned in Northern Ireland, while firefighters continue to tackle blazes in Donegal and Offaly.
Defence Forces members and three helicopters have been deployed over the northwest of the country to tackle extensive gorse fires – some of which fire officials believe were started deliberately.