12 gorse fires blaze over bank holiday weekend

Gardaí warn public of prosecutions for gorse fires

Anton McNulty

GARDAÍ say they will be investigating a number of gorse fires which took place throughout the county over the weekend and warned people that it is a criminal offence to set fire to vegetation.
Over the bank holiday weekend, the fire service in Mayo were called to tackle 12 gorse fires which took place throughout the county from Achill to Ballyhaunis. Many of them took a number of hours to get under control and to prevent damage to homes and property.
Three units of the fire service fought a gorse fire in Ballycroy throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning which threatened a number of houses and resulted in a number of families being evacuated until the danger passed.
The gorse fire broke out on Saturday evening at approximately 8.15pm near Ballyveeney Bridge, Ballycroy along the N59 before spreading north and travelling over 7km of gorse land.
Three units of the fire service from Westport, Achill and Belmullet were called to tackle the blaze which was aided by strong winds. The fire started close to a house in the area and the fire personnel had to work through the night to keep the fire away from homes and from jumping the N59 road.
The dry vegetation and the strong winds meant the fire spread quickly but no property was damaged and burnt mainly bog heather and rhododendron bushes over a large area of land before it was eventually brought under control by the fire crews. The fire was brought under control by the fire services but they remained on site throughout the night to ensure the fire did not reignite and spread further. The fire brigade finally stood down and they left around 10am on Sunday morning.
A spokesperson for the Garda SiochΡna told The Mayo News that from April 1 its is a criminal offence to set fire to vegetation and said they will be investigating how these fires started.
“I would appeal to people not to set fire to gorse particularly on land next to forestry because the damage can be horrendous. I number of these fires are started deliberately and can quickly get out of control and at the moment the land has dried considerably. It is currently a criminal offence to set fire to vegetation and these fires will be investigated because they are putting a huge demand on the fire brigade,” he said.
Discarded cigarettes have also been blamed as the source of many of these fires with many of them believed to have started along the side of the road. The dry weather over the last number of weeks added to the strong wind made ideal conditions for the start of gorse fires.
The public have been urged to be extremely cautious when dealing with fires and to contact the fire service if they notice a fire and not rely on other people to call them instead.