Forest Fires in Ireland and the United Kingdom

Forest Fires in Ireland and the United Kingdom

03 May 2011


This images, depicted by the MODIS sensor on NASA’s Terra satellite
on 1 May 2011 at 12:55 UCT shows extended fires burning in Ireland.

Army helps contain wildfires
FIRES that raged through parts of the west of Ireland for three days — destroying thousands of acres in their path — were finally under control last night.

But fire chiefs warned that the danger had not abated.

More than 100 troops with specialist suits and three Air Corps helicopters continued efforts to tackle wild gorse, bog and forest fires yesterday.

Three helicopters, two equipped with buckets able to carry 1,200 litres of water at a time, were being deployed to help firefighters on the ground.

The Defence Forces were drafted in yesterday as flames ripped through gorse and forest in the Doochary, Leitir and Dungloe areas of west Donegal amid speculation that the blazes were started deliberately.

An aerial photo from the Defence Forces shows a helicopter
scooping up water to pour on the gorse fire in Donegal A home near Dromahair, Co Leitrim, which
was destroyed by a gorse fire

Firefighters assisted by Defence Forces and Air Corps personnel yesterday continued to battle the worst of fires, a 20km-wide blaze, which swept through over 300sq km of upland gorse and forestry.

Such was the extent of the inferno that the smoke was visible from space, and captured on a satellite image taken at 1.55pm on Sunday.

Two Air Corps helicopters, using ‘bambi buckets’ to scoop water from local lakes, dumped more than 100,000 litres of water on to the burning gorse and forest as the fire spread dangerously close to a residential area on Quay Road, on the outskirts of Dungloe.

However, Donegal’s chief fire officer Bobby McMenamin last night said he was hopeful the worst was over.

“Sunday was the busiest day I can ever remember. We have 146 members of the fire service in the county and all were deployed: 120 were on frontline duty fighting the fires and the remaining three crews were on standby,” he said.

The fire officer praised the efforts of the defence forces and civil defence.

Fires continued to burn in west Donegal, Ardara, Ballyshannon, and the Fanad and Inishowen peninsulas yesterday, but most were under control by last night.

Witnesses

Two fires also burned on the county’s second highest mountain, Muckish.

Gardai have also appealed for witnesses or anyone with any information about how the fires started to come forward.

Wildlife rangers have also been assessing the toll of the devastation to fauna and flora in the richly diverse landscape, mainly areas designated as Special Areas of Conservation.

Glenveagh National Park deputy regional manager Dave Duggan said that western fringes of the national park had been impacted by the blaze.

Elsewhere around the country, emergency services were also tackling blazes in the Foxford and Pontoon areas of west Mayo; a large forest fire at Ballintogher, Co Sligo; a gorse fire near Recess in the Inagh Valley, Co Galway; a number of bog fires near Tullamore, Co Offaly; and a gorse fire at Bragan Mountain, Co Monaghan.
Source: www.independent.ie

Fire crews tackle gorse blazes
Large gorse fires are burning in counties Donegal, Offaly and Sligo this afternoon.

The most serious fire in Co Donegal is in a forest at Bonnyglen, Loughfad in Glenties. Fire units from Glenties, Dungloe, Donegal Town and Killybegs are at the scene, as are three Coillte helicopters.

Local people are helping in efforts to contain the fire and other fire units from Ballyshannon and Glencolumbcille are on standby. There is a real danger the fire could spread to homes near the forest, according to Donegal’s chief fire officer Bobby McMenamin.

Two Air Corps helicopters fitted with giant “Bambi” buckets capable of dropping 1,200 litres of water on the flames are at the scene of another serious fire at Muckish Mountain near Falcarragh. 32 army personnel are also in attendance.

Mr McMenamin warned landowners and the public to remain alert in the coming days.

“Conditions are still ideal for gorse fires,” he said. “We have windy conditions, very dry conditions out on the land and I would ask people to be very careful until the rain comes.”

Major fires in Dungloe, Ardara and Glenties have been contained but teams are still tackling several other smaller fires, including in Buncrana and Milford.

In Co Sligo, fire brigade units from Sligo, Ballymote, Tubbercurry and Enniscrone are attending a major fire at Dromore West. The Coillte helicopter is on the scene.

An Army spokesman said soldiers were also on standby to help tackle a number of fires on the Offaly/Meath border

A number of fires have spread onto Bord na Móna land between Ferbane and Edenderry in Co Offaly. Some 450 Bord na Móna staff are working “around the clock” to put out the fires and to prevent them spreading further into the boglands, according to Paul Riordan, head of peat operations at the company.

Mr Riordan appealed to landowners near the company’s boglands not to burn gorse and heather, saying this was the main reason fires were starting and then getting out of control. He said the bogs were very dry after a spell of good weather and a lack of rain. He added there was evidence that some fires had been started deliberately.

“We hope to get these fires put out in the next 24 or 48 hours,” he told RTÉ radio this morning.

David Thompson, coast and countryside manager with the National Trust in Northern Ireland, said it was “really worrying that people are deliberately setting fires to a wonderful natural resource like the Mourne Mountains”.

He told RTÉ: “The fire service here say they’ve never known anything like this. They strongly suspect that the majority of these fires are started deliberately.”

The fires are taking hold and spreading because the mountains are very dry after one of the warmest springs on record, he said.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the holiday weekend had been the busiest in its history. At one stage, the service was getting a call every 45 seconds.

The Mournes; Ballycastle, Co Antrim; Gortin, Co Tyrone; and Rostrevor, Co Down, were badly affected. Chief Fire Officer Peter Craig said it had been “phenomenally busy”.

Meanwhile, two boys, aged 10 and 15, were arrested yesterday on suspicion of setting fires in the Aghnagar road area of Sixmilecross, near Omagh, Co Tyrone.

The PSNI issued a warning today about the dangers of the fires, saying they were unpredictable, could change direction at any time and that visibility had been seriously reduced.

Met Éireann forescaster Pat Clarke said there would be no rain until tomorrow when persistent and heavy downpours are expected along the west coast, pushing across the country during the day.

Rain may not arrive in the east, including the Mournes, until as late as Wednesday night, he said. “That will be the pattern for the rest of the week: change and unsettled weather with showers or longer spells of rain moving in off the Atlantic from time to time,” he said.

Mr Clarke said conditions would remain windy.


A helicopter spreads water across a gorse fire outside Pontoon, Co Mayo,
yesterday where warm, dry and windy weather has helped to fan the flames of the fires.

The Irish Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) described the outbreak of gorse, bog and forest fires throughout the country as “unprecedented”.

Speaking ahead of the association’s annual conference and technology exhibition in Limerick tomorrow, vice chairman Adrian Kelly said the geographical spread of incidents across the country had placed a huge strain on fire services in the affected counties.

“A combination of strong winds and the continuing dry conditions exacerbated the situation by causing fires to spread, particularly across Donegal. The arrival of rain in affected areas over the next 48 hours will provide a significant boost to emergency services in tackling the continuing threat of fires,” he said.

He said the association condemned people who had started fires deliberately. “Such reckless actions have placed the lives of both members of the local community and also firefighters at risk. These fires have also destroyed hundreds of acres of gorse land, forestry and bogs, with negative consequences for property, tourism and wildlife.”
Source: www.irishtimes.com

Scale of wildfires ‘unprecedented’
The outbreak of wildfires raging across Ireland because of the lengthy dry spell is unprecedented, according to fire chiefs.

Although many have been brought under control, conditions remain dangerous for further fires before an expected break in the sunny weather later in the week.

The Army has drafted 45 troops and three helicopters into west Donegal to help fire crews battle flames spreading across Muckish Mountain, near Falcarragh.

Two of the choppers are fitted with “Bambi” buckets which are dropping up to 1,200 litres of water at a time onto the gorse blaze.

Major fires in Dungloe, Ardara and Glenties have been contained but teams are still tackling several other smaller fires, including in Buncrana and Milford.

Donegal’s chief fire officer Bobby McMenamin warned landowners and the public to remain alert in the coming days.

“Conditions are still ideal for gorse fires,” he said.

“We have windy conditions, very dry conditions out on the land and I would ask people to be very careful until the rain comes.”

Thousands of acres have been destroyed as fires scorched gorse, bog and forests in Donegal, Leitrim, Laois, Offaly, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Monaghan, Cavan, Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Sligo and Louth.

Several fires are still being tackled at Bord na Mona lands between Ferbane and Edenderry, Co Offaly.

Adrian Kelly, Clare chief fire officer and vice chairman of the Irish Chief Fire Officers Association, said the pressure has been unprecedented.

“The last few days have been one of the busiest periods for the fire service nationwide in recent years,” he said.

“Indeed, the geographical spread of separate incidents across the country is unprecedented. This has placed a huge strain on fire services in the affected counties.”

Mr Kelly also hit out at people suspected of deliberately starting fires, accusing them of risking the lives of firefighters and the public.

In the North, the number of blazes has reduced overnight. Five fire appliances were still dealing with a large area of burning gorse and grass on the side of Knocklayde Mountain in Ballycastle. Co Antrim.

In the Mourne Mountains there is still smoke but no fires. A handful of minor gorse fires are being tackled in other parts of Northern Ireland but only one or two fire appliances have attended and the fire service said they were expected to be extinguished soon.

A spokeswoman said: “The number of fires is definitely well reduced.”

Yesterday firefighters in the North battled their highest-ever number of blazes, with 282 gorse fires.

On Sunday the number was 201.

Two boys, aged 10 and 15, have been questioned by police about a gorse fire in Co Tyrone.

The Mournes, Ballycastle, Co Antrim, Gortin, Co Tyrone and Rostrevor, Co Down, were badly affected. Chief Fire Officer Peter Craig said it had been “phenomenally busy”.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the holiday weekend had been the busiest in its history. At one stage, the service was getting a call every 45 seconds.

Police said people’s lives had been put in danger, hundreds of acres of land destroyed and homes and livestock threatened by the fires.

The National Trust has warned that the fires will cause “immense damage” to the Mournes.

Meanwhile, police talked to two young people yesterday in connection with a fire in Sixmilecross. They said they were also following up reports that a man with a petrol can was seen in the Rostrevor area on Saturday evening and that two youths were spotted lighting fires on Slieve Gullion Mountain on Sunday night.

Pat Clarke, forecaster with Met Eireann, said there would be no rain until tomorrow when persistent and heavy downpours are expected along the west coast, pushing across the country during the day.

Rain may not arrive in the east, including the Mournes, until as late as Wednesday night, he said.

“That will be the pattern for the rest of the week: change and unsettled weather with showers or longer spells of rain moving in off the Atlantic from time to time,” he said.

Mr Clarke said conditions would remain windy.
Source: www.irishexaminer.com

After the sun, the fires: Record-breaking dry spell fuels huge moorland blazes across UK

Huge heath fires have broken out across the UK, forcing schools to close and causing major disruption on the roads.

Hundreds of firemen have been called into action as infernos raged from Sussex to the Highlands of Scotland – including the Queen’s Balmoral Estate – and Ireland.

So far, no one has died in the fires that have been fuelled by bone-dry wood and foliage and strong winds.

But forecasters have warned there won’t be any rain to ease the situation for another 24 hours.

Danger zone: Flames leapt 40 feet in the air as crews from Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire fought ferocious blazes that came close to Broadmoor top security hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire
Red alert: Ramblers fled for their lives as the inferno swept across dry heath and forest land in Crowthorne Woods, Berkshire, with the smoke so thick it blotted out the sun

Grampian Fire and Rescue said that the blaze on the sprawling Balmoral Estate, which is personally owned by Her Majesty The Queen, was a large wildfire with two fronts, one 200m to 300m long and the other 50m long.

Estate workers from Balmoral and other surrounding estates were also helping to tackle the blaze.

The estate covers around 20,000 hectares, just over 50,000 acres.

This map shows the location of the various fires that have sprung up in the past few days across the UK and Ireland

Hotting up: This map shows the location of the various fires that have sprung up in the past few days across the UK and Ireland

In Berkshire, three schools were closed today as fires continued to cause problems near the Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.

The blazes broke out just before 1pm yesterday, causing severe traffic disruption towards the south of Bracknell Forest and particularly around the Crowthorne area.

Around 100 firemen were called to tackle the blaze just half a mile from the top-security psychiatric hospital.

Fierce flames were whipped up by strong winds as two separate blazes took hold – one covering an area of one square mile. The fires have since spread to four areas, police said.

Roads were closed and hundreds of residents were advised to keep their windows shut because of the dense smoke.

Broadmoor itself is surrounded by woodland. It was believed the fire started at a saw mill in Swinley, Ascot, last week and travelled underground through peat, emerging in two places in Swinley Forest yesterday afternoon.

Crews remained at the scene in South Ascot, where the flames were now under control.

A spokesman for the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the second fire had been contained in an area measuring 300m by 300m surrounded by tracks. The cause of the fire was being investigated.

A helicopter tackles the fire at Ogden Moor, West Yorkshire. The fire was fuelled by high winds and the recent dry weather

Schools closed include Edgbarrow Secondary School, Crowthorne C of E Primary School and Wildmoor Heath Primary School. The Look Out Discovery Centre and Coral Reef Waterworld are also shut, Thames Valley Police said.

Fires also raged in other areas of England. More than 100 firefighters tackled three fires spanning several square miles on Lancashire moorland near Belmont, Bacup and Ormskirk.

Ogden Moor in West Yorkshire was also ablaze yesterday.

Another 40 battled a 15 acre forest blaze near Petworth in West Sussex last night. It was thought 30 per cent of the undergrowth in the Bedham forest had been destroyed.

Heathland fires were also still raging across parts of the Scottish Highlands and Ireland.

In the Scottish Highlands, firefighters tackled two wildfires which have been raging since the holiday weekend.

At Shiel Bridge three properties were evacuated last night as the flames advanced.

Today, 22 firefighters were at the scene and there were plans to use helicopters later to dampen the blaze.

Nine firefighters are still at the scene of a blaze in Torridon, which has been burning since Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday, Stornoway Coastguard rescued seven people and a dog after the wildfires swept parts of the Highlands.
The forest fire is only a few hundred yards from top security Broadmoor Hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, seen here in the foreground

This picture shows the fire from the other side as it approaches Broadmoor

The coastguard helicopter Rescue 100 was scrambled to airlift two walkers at 2.20pm yesterday after they became trapped in fires on Liathach in the Torridon mountain range.

Once they had been rescued, another four people and a dog were found and rescued before the helicopter was diverted to another area to check for more walkers.

The Mallaig RNLI lifeboat also saved a 27-year-old woman whose campsite had been encircled by fires in the remote western tip of the Ardnish Peninsula, Loch Ailort.
A West Yorkshire fire service helicopter battles a moorland fire near Wainstalls, Halifax, that has been burning for around four days

A West Yorkshire fire service helicopter battles a moorland fire near Wainstalls, Halifax, that has been burning for around four days

In Northern Ireland, police were investigating reports of a man seen with a petrol can close to one of the worst gorse fires for years in the Mourne Mountains.

Another two youths were spotted lighting fires in south Armagh, reports to the Police Service of Northern Ireland added.

Hundreds of acres of land are being destroyed, and homes and livestock threatened by fires which have burned for much of the bank holiday weekend in Counties Down, Armagh and Tyrone.

In Ireland, three Air Corps helicopters and more than 100 troops wearing specialist suits have been tackling wildfires in the north-west of the country.
Heath fires in Kintail in the north-west Highlands, seen here glowing dramatically at night, sadly reached some of the National Trust For Scotland’s forest regeneration plantations.

Desperate measures: A helicopter drops water as fires rage across the hillside at Sheil Bridge, west of Loch Ness

The Defence Forces said operations were focusing on the Dungloe area of Co Donegal, where significant progress has been made.

Paul Knightley, a forecaster from MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said it was unlikely to rain until tomorrow evening at the earliest.

He said: ‘We’re not expecting any rain in the next 24 hours. There’s an area of high pressure over the north of the country.

‘Tomorrow night it looks like some showery rain will start to edge into Northern Ireland and it might start to edge into Scotland on Thursday morning.’

The forecaster said both Scotland and Northern Ireland had just two-thirds of the rain it would normally expect in April.

With 1.7in (43mm) falling across Scotland, it was 68 per cent of the normal rainfall, and the 1.5in (38mm) in Northern Ireland was 66 per cent of normal levels.

Last month was the hottest April on record in England and Wales, Mr Knightley said.

Rainfall was just 21 per cent of the expected levels, and the average temperature was the hottest since records began 353 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency fears the continuing dry weather could have an adverse impact on wildlife, including fish and plant life in and around rivers and lakes where water levels are low.

The sunshine has also sparked an invasion of ants. Armies of the insects, encouraged by the warm spring weather, have descended on homes across Britain in search of food and water. Wildlife experts say ant populations have been boosted by the cold winter.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

More media reports on wildfires burning in Ireland and the United Kingdom

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