Firemen battles gorse fires in north Wicklow
FIRE fighters in north Wicklow have been forced to battle a series of blazes on the Sugarloaf over the past weeks, as well as a bonfire on a golf course in Kilcoole.
ON the night of Tuesday, March 24, Bray Fire Crew were dealing with multiple fires on the Sugarloaf and at Glencap Comons, in what was suspected illegal agricultural burning.
On the evening of Friday, March 27, fire crews also battled a further range of fires that broke out on the Sugarloaf. Wicklow Fire Service said that the fires were ‘diverting fire-fighters and increasing the risk of infection’ of Covid-19.
At 1 a.m. on Saturday, March 28, Greystones Fire Service was alerted to a bonfire or camp-fire near Kilcoole Golf Club.
Chief fire officer Aidan Dempsey said that Wicklow Fire Service is currently trying to reduce operation call-outs to a minimum and to keep resources available for emergencies. ‘ These fires are not happening naturally,’ he said.
‘Somebody is setting these fires. We are calling on them to stop. And we are asking the public to report any fires that they see in their limited travels allowed under the new procedures.’
He said that a fire which scorched 150 acres of land at Killarney National Park the weekend before last is an example of the potential consequences. ‘If one of these fires gets out of control it puts peoples homes at risk,’ said Mr Dempsey. ‘Particularly in the current crisis the country is in, this must be avoided. Given the current emergency arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that no one should start an illegal fire in the countryside. Such activity will cause the unnecessary diversions of emergency service resources,’ said the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed in a statement. ‘Wildfires put homes and livelihoods at direct risk and cause considerable disruption to rural communities and habitats. At any time but particularly in the current emergency, such disturbance to rural dwellers, including those who are old and vulnerable, cannot be permitted under any circumstances.’
Illegal fires always pose a threat to public health but in the current Covid 19 crisis this is even more pronounced as emergency services and resources are stretched,’ said Brian Dunne, coordinator of Wicklow Uplands Council.