Northern Ireland

Firefighters tackle 300 gorse fires in three weeks

Firefighters battling two large gorse fires in Co Antrim. Picture by McAuley Multimedia
Firefighters battling two large gorse fires in Co Antrim. Picture by McAuley Multimedia Firefighters battling two large gorse fires in Co Antrim. Picture by McAuley Multimedia

FIRE crews in Northern Ireland have dealt with 300 grassland or gorse fires in the last three weeks.

Many of them were started deliberately, the fire service said.

It emerged as firefighters tackled a gorse fire yesterday at Altrichard Road in Ballycastle, Co Antrim.

Another gorse fire on Islandboy Road was extinguished.

Fifteen fire appliances and 70 firefighters were deployed to the blazes.

The cause of both fires is being investigated.

A Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) spokesman urged the public not to add "additional pressure" to emergency crews.

He said these kinds of fires "unnecessarily draw our resources away from where they are needed most – protecting our community".

Stormont's agriculture department and NIFRS have asked farmers and the public for their help during the current dry weather.

"The hot and dry weather has left the countryside vulnerable to fires caused by burning of vegetation or waste and littering and dumping of waste materials could put our emergency services under more pressure," a statement said.

Agriculture minister Edwin Poots urged the public not to "start a fire in the countryside".

"Wildfires are rarely natural. They are almost always started either deliberately, or by reckless burning or disposal of flammable vegetation or waste material," he said.

NIFRS advised people who see a fire in the countryside to report it immediately and leave the area as soon as possible.

It said anyone in the countryside should extinguish cigarettes and other flammable materials properly, never throw cigarette ends out of car windows, and avoid using open fires in the countryside.