Northern Ireland

Large wildfire at Belfast development site extinguished

Smoke billowing from a gorse fire in the Giant's Park area of north Belfast on Saturday. Picture: Gary McKeown/Twitter
Smoke billowing from a gorse fire in the Giant's Park area of north Belfast on Saturday. Picture: Gary McKeown/Twitter Smoke billowing from a gorse fire in the Giant's Park area of north Belfast on Saturday. Picture: Gary McKeown/Twitter

THE cause of a large weekend gorse fire on the outskirts of north Belfast remains under investigation.

The blaze broke out in the Giant's Park area close to Dargan Road on Saturday afternoon, with smoke from the site visible across the city.

Pictures of the billowing smoke were posted to social media, including by Belfast SDLP councillor Gary McKeown.

The NI Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS)said four fire appliances were sent to the former landfill site at the shore of Belfast Lough following a report being received at around 2.40pm, before the blaze was extinguished on Saturday evening.

The 340-acre park, which is earmarked for a £150 million development project to create a sporting and leisure site, was the scene of a similar large grass fire in March of last year.

Saturday's blaze followed a week of warm and dry weather, and comes weeks after the NIFRS warned people to be aware of the risks of fires after firefighters were tasked to deal with 1,239 blazes across the north last year.