Fire fighters have tackled more than 400 recorded wildfires in the last month, the majority of which occurred in the last week following a condition red fire warning.
Fire services in Louth are reporting a major strain on resources. As the Irish Farmers Journal was going to print, Dundalk fire station had received 45 calls in the last nine days which is roughly a 10th of their calls for the year. There are major concerns about gorse fires on the Cooley Peninsula as it has dried out and the Louth Fire Service reports a lot of the fires are being started deliberately.
Along the west coast, crews in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Clare attended 134 fires last week. Galway fire services alone tackled 64 fires, while in Clare a total of 39 fires were reported in June over half of those have been in the last week. All controlled burning in the county has been suspended until the red warning expires.
Carlow has seen fire calls increase by 250% to 300% on normal activity for this time of year. Fire services there approximate that they have attended some 40 outdoor fires involving vegetation in the last 30 days.
Further south, Cork fire services reported 74 callouts to forest, gorse and grass fires.
In the southeast of the country, which has been one of the worst affected areas by drought, there have been almost 100 wildfires. Wexford has had 30 incidents within a week, while Waterford has had almost 60 in the last month.
Careful
All fire crews were unanimous in their calls for landowners not to burn vegetation and for members of the public to be extremely careful with barbecues, cigarettes or other sources of ignition.
Illegal dumping has also been identified as the cause of several wildfires.
Read more
Temperature warning – highs of 28°c
Watch: firefighters protect barley field as red fire warning extended
Fire fighters have tackled more than 400 recorded wildfires in the last month, the majority of which occurred in the last week following a condition red fire warning.
Fire services in Louth are reporting a major strain on resources. As the Irish Farmers Journal was going to print, Dundalk fire station had received 45 calls in the last nine days which is roughly a 10th of their calls for the year. There are major concerns about gorse fires on the Cooley Peninsula as it has dried out and the Louth Fire Service reports a lot of the fires are being started deliberately.
Along the west coast, crews in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Clare attended 134 fires last week. Galway fire services alone tackled 64 fires, while in Clare a total of 39 fires were reported in June over half of those have been in the last week. All controlled burning in the county has been suspended until the red warning expires.
Carlow has seen fire calls increase by 250% to 300% on normal activity for this time of year. Fire services there approximate that they have attended some 40 outdoor fires involving vegetation in the last 30 days.
Further south, Cork fire services reported 74 callouts to forest, gorse and grass fires.
In the southeast of the country, which has been one of the worst affected areas by drought, there have been almost 100 wildfires. Wexford has had 30 incidents within a week, while Waterford has had almost 60 in the last month.
Careful
All fire crews were unanimous in their calls for landowners not to burn vegetation and for members of the public to be extremely careful with barbecues, cigarettes or other sources of ignition.
Illegal dumping has also been identified as the cause of several wildfires.
Read more
Temperature warning – highs of 28°c
Watch: firefighters protect barley field as red fire warning extended
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