Public appeal issued following Killarney fire
The public is being asked to be vigilant following a fire in the Five Mile Bridge area of the Killarney National Park in County Kerry.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Kerry Fire and Rescue Service responded to the incident on Tuesday night.
The blaze at the Eagle’s Nest was quickly brought under control.
According to Niall Ó Donnchú, Director General of NPWS, “Over the past few years NPWS has really invested in our capacity to respond to fire incidents quickly. This includes increasing the size of our ground crews, widespread use of technology, aerial monitoring and training.”
He continued, “Thankfully in this case, local NPWS staff and fire services acted quickly and averted a much more serious incident. I commend them on the alacrity and professionalism of their response.”
Separately, a gorse fire in the hills of East Clare on Thursday night temporarily forced the closure of the M7 between Tipperary and Limerick on Thursday night.
The motorway between Junction 28 at Annacotty (Limerick) and Junction 26 at Nenagh (Tipperary) was closed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland due to poor visibility arising from the blaze.
Ireland is currently under a Status Orange High Forest Fire Risk Warning until next Monday.
The alert has been put in place due to forecast dry weather and moderate easterly winds over the next 10 days, which follows a drier than average March.
Under Irish law, the cutting, grubbing, burning or other destruction of vegetation growing on “any land not then cultivated” is prohibited between 1st March and 31st August annually.
Other gorse fires have occurred in recent weeks in West Clare, the Sperrin Mountains in County Tyrone, West Cavan, and the Mourne Mountains and Glens of Antrim.
The Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher O’Sullivan said, “I am appealing to everyone to be vigilant and not to light fires or BBQs in public places. That includes our National Parks and Nature Reserves, coastal sand dunes, mountains and upland areas, forests, meadows and urban parks.”
