Since last weekend, Cork County Council Fire Service responded to 71 gorse or vegetation fires, primarily in the West Cork area.

All six West Cork fire brigades - Bantry, Castletownbere, Schull, Skibbereen, Dunmanway and Clonakilty – have been involved in fighting gorse or vegetation fires since last Friday, mainly in the Bantry area, along the Mizen Peninsula, Sheep’s Head Peninsula, the Beara Peninsula, and in Tragumna.

In that time, crews from Macroom, Bandon, Millstreet and Carrigaline have also responded to gorse fires.

Long into Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, crews from Schull, Bantry, Dunmanway and Castletownbere fire brigades continued to fight gorse fires in the Goleen, Durrus, and Eyeries areas.

A spokesperson for Cork County Council told The Echo that the fires put a serious strain on the council’s resources.

“Fighting some of the fires was very protracted due to a combination of strong winds, very dense vegetation and difficult terrain, and some of the calls responded to, due the size of the fire and the amount of land involved in the fire, required the attendance of multiple brigades,” the spokesperson said.

“Fire crews have worked tirelessly to protect multiple houses from the fires and to minimise the spread of the fire into forestry.” 

Such fires can draw important fire brigade resources away from responding to other emergency calls, the spokesperson said.

“Since the current spate of gorse fires started last Friday, brigades across the county have responded to 28 other incidents including road traffic collisions, domestic fires, ambulance assists, chimney fires, car fires and automatic fire alarm activations.” 

From Wednesday 1 March, it is illegal for landowners to burn off scrub or vegetation from the land.

The burning of vegetation is controlled by the Wildlife Acts, and it is an offence under Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (amended by Section 46 of the Wildlife Act, 2000) to burn, “from 1 March to 31 August in any year, any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated. Individuals who are found to burn vegetation within that prohibited period are liable to prosecution by An Garda Síochána or by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS)”.

The spokesperson for Cork County Council said lighting gorse fires is now illegal, and anyone doing so is diverting firefighters away from other emergencies.

“For anybody living in areas that are prone to gorse fires, the council would as always advise that you remove gorse and dead vegetation from around buildings, oil tanks, fences, forestry and poles in order to maintain a defensible zone and reduce your risk of loss or damage to property,” they said.