Fire crews battle gorse fires on Blackstairs Mountains for fourth time in week

Sarah Slater

Fire crews from across Carlow battled overnight gorse fires along the Blackstairs Mountains for the fourth time in the past week.

The fires took hold in the Nine Stones area of Mount Leinster which could be seen from several kilometres away.

There is currently an Orange High Forest Fire Risk rating and the public are being urged not to light fires, use BBQs and to dispose of smoking materials responsibly in areas with very dry land and vegetation.

A Carlow Fire and Rescue spokesperson warned that such fires “damage local habitats and take fire service resources out of urban areas to deal with them".

The public are urged to remain vigilant and report any burning/fires to the Fire Service and to the gardaí.

The spokesperson added: “These fires can spread very quickly due to the land being so dry and with winds particularly in the evening aiding fast spread across large areas of land.”

Last week, emergency services were at the scene of a fire in south Kilkenny, which took almost six hours to extinguish.

The fire service tended to a gorse fire in the Cullintra area, outside The Rower, Co Kilkenny, as the blaze was spreading.

While no injuries were reported in all three call-outs a spokesperson for Kilkenny Fire Service said that this time of year fire services across the country are “inundated with gorse fires”.

The spokesperson noted that such fires can have a “huge, devastating impact on nature, particularly ground-nesting birds as their habitats are destroyed”.