Firefighters braced for more wildfires in Northern Ireland as temperatures rise
The most significant blaze over the weekend took hold in the Hilltown area of Co Down on Saturday.
Firefighters in Northern Ireland are braced for further wildfires having already tackled almost 150 blazes in three days.
Commanders at the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service have said the majority of the fires were started deliberately.
Area commander David Harbinson said an amber wildfire warning would remain in place until the end of the week, with the forecast for increasing temperatures in the region heightening concerns of further ignitions.
“We are anticipating that we could be busy and that’s down to the dry weather continuing,” said Mr Harbinson.
“I think later on in the week the temperatures are due to increase. With the temperature increases, then there is a greater risk. But what also happens with the temperature increase then is that makes the conditions for firefighters more arduous.”
The 146 wildfires responded to from Friday to Sunday included a huge blaze in the Hilltown area near the Mourne Mountains in Co Down, which fire commanders described as one of the most significant they have had to deal with in years.
A major incident was declared as firefighters tried to contain the fire.
At the height of operations, 15 fire appliances and more than 100 firefighters worked in difficult conditions and high winds throughout Saturday evening and into the early hours of Sunday to tackle the gorse fire.
As a precaution a number of residents were evacuated from their homes on the Sandbank and Kilbroney roads while the fire was brought under control.
A 25-year-old man arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire was later released on bail.
Across the weekend, significant wildfires also took hold in the Ben Crom and Silent Valley areas in the Mourne Mountains.
On Monday firefighters continued to tackle another gorse fire on the mountainside at Bloody Bridge outside Newcastle, Co Down.
Mr Harbinson warned that the fire could escalate.
“The early indication is potentially that the incident may escalate in terms of our resourcing in order to deal with that,” he told the PA news agency at the scene on Monday afternoon.
“But it’s too early to forecast, but that’s the early indications of where we may be going.”
Elsewhere, a significant wildfire broke out on Sunday in the Garry Wood area close to the village of Dervock in Co Antrim.
Northern Ireland’s Environment minister Andrew Muir expressed concern that lives will be lost, homes destroyed and serious environmental consequences if “rural arson” continues.
He visited the Mourne Mountains on Monday evening to see the extent of the damage.
Mr Muir was speaking in the Stormont Assembly in response to an urgent oral question asked by DUP South Down MLA Diane Forsythe around the wildfire response.
He said he hopes to bring a strategic way forward in relation to wildfires to the Executive “very soon”, which will include a different approach to prescribed burning periods in the countryside.
“We’ve got to change what we’re doing here. I know that is going to be difficult for people but we can’t continue the current way,” he told MLAs.
“We are facing a very serious situation here, and if these fires don’t stop I really worry that lives are going to be lost. There is a tendency in this place to divert to blame game and finger pointing, and that doesn’t resolve any of this.
“I am working within my department. I am working with the Health Minister, there is a cross-departmental joined-up approach in relation to this, and I think it’s really important I praise the work that has been undertaken by the Fire and Rescue Service, police, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the Mourne Heritage Trust, by so many people coming together.
“To be honest, if that preparedness and that prompt response hadn’t been in place, I dread to think what would be happening … and it’s really important I say to everyone across Northern Ireland, knock it on the head, stop these fires.
“Lets call this what it is, rural arson, and if it doesn’t stop, we’re going to have homes burnt down, we’re going to have people killed and we’re going to have serious environmental consequences beyond what we’ve seen in recent days and weeks.”
Mr Muir also urged anyone with information to contact police or Crimestoppers.
“I know this may be difficult because it may be reporting upon a neighbour, but we need to bring the culprits for this to justice,” he added.
