A NEW joint operation has been launched to investigate hundreds of wildfires started deliberately in Northern Ireland's countryside.
There were almost 1,000 gorse fires across the north in May alone with more than 90 per cent of the blazes started deliberately.
Operation WildFire brings together experts from the Environment Agency, PSNI and Fire and Rescue Service to investigate recent wildfires, which spread rapidly due to the dry ground conditions, putting the public, property, firefighters and important habitats and species at risk.
It aims to determine the origin of a number of recent fires and their causes with the help of international wildfire investigators from the European Forest Institute and European Forest Risk Facility.
Colum McDaid from the NIEA said the investigation of wildfires was "key to catching arsonists, and can be critical in identifying serial arsonists before they can move on to bigger targets".
"The law states that burning of vegetation such as heather, gorse, whin or fern must not be carried out between 15 April and 31 August, and only carried out at other times of the year under controlled and expert supervision."
PSNI constable Darryl Johnston said "wildfires are illegal and the deliberate setting of wildfires is a criminal offence".
"We hope to use the Operation Wildfire investigations to determine the cause and origin of a number of the recent fires with the ultimate aim of serving in court cases and deterring arsonists," he said.
Mark Smyth of the NIFRS said more than 90 per cent of the gorse fires in May alone were started deliberately.
"Given the nature of the fires and their rapid spread, identifying the exact origin and cause of the fire while actively fighting the fires has been difficult," he said.
"We look forward to working alongside our partner agencies and the wildfire investigators from the European Forest Risk Facility as we visit the sites of some of the larger gorse fires we dealt with including Slieve Beagh in Clogher and Mullaghcarn in Omagh."
