Perilous Times and Climate Change
The Irish Times - Monday, May 2, 2011
Ireland: Raging Forest fires continue to sweep
through Donegal, Mayo and Galway
Firefighters try to bring a gorse fire in west Donegal under
control yesterday. While thousands of acres have been burned and
some houses evacuated, there have been no injuries. Met Eireann
has said only 10-20 per cent of average rainfall has been recorded
in some of the affected regions in the past fortnight.Firefighters
try to bring a gorse fire in west Donegal under control yesterday.
While thousands of acres have been burned and some houses
evacuated, there have been no injuries. Met Eireann has said only
10-20 per cent of average rainfall has been recorded in some of
the affected regions in the past fortnight.Photograph: Eoin
McGarvey
THE AIR Corps and Army were continuing to work with fire services
and civilian volunteers last night as gorse and forest fires swept
through thousands of acres in Donegal, Mayo and Galway.
Three Air Corps helicopters and more than 50 troops with
specialist firefighting equipment were deployed yesterday in the
west and northwest.
Two of the Air Corps AW139 helicopters were fitted with “Bambi”
underslung buckets to drop 1,200 litres of water at a time from
the air, while Coillte also used a similar technique to help
ground fire teams in north Mayo.
Local fire services in the midlands tackled bog and forest blazes
in parts of Offaly, on the Longford-Westmeath border near
Lismacaffrey, while the PSNI reported that a number of areas in
the Mourne mountains in Co Down were also affected.
Coillte, the State forestry company, confirmed last night fires
affecting forestry in north Mayo and west Galway were “under
control”.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter paid tribute to the Defence
Forces and “all those personnel involved” in the efforts.
Fianna Fáil North-West MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher has called on
Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to visit affected areas,
and to initiate an investigation into the cause of the worse
incidents, in Donegal, which are believed to have been started
deliberately some time on Saturday.
Mr Gallagher was critical of the delay in deploying the Defence
Forces to assist exhausted firefighters, who had spent much of
Saturday night and yesterday trying to protect homes from a 16km
(10-mile) long blaze covering thousands of acres across mountains
and bogs linking Doochary, Lettermacaward and Dungloe in west
Donegal.
Other forest fires were also being tackled at the Knather,
Ballyshannon, and in the Fanad and Inishowen peninsulas, according
to Donegal fire chief Bobby McMenamin.
Up to 100 firemen were deployed in Donegal from mid-afternoon on
Saturday.
Ten fire units were still fighting the blaze yesterday and the
main road between Dungloe and Lettermacaward was closed, as flames
crossed the route.
Nobody was reported to be injured but a number of homes were
evacuated.
In Galway, fire crews worked over the weekend to extinguish a
gorse fire near Recess in the Inagh Valley, which reignited on
Saturday night. A brisk east to north-easterly wind fanned flames
in both Galway and in separate blazes across the county border in
the Pontoon-Foxford area of Mayo.
The R310 regional road between Castlebar and Ballina was closed
for most of yesterday because of low visibility caused by dense
smoke and sparks and flames shooting across the road from burning
undergrowth.
Mayo chief fire officer Séamus Murphy said yesterday that units
from across the county were being rotated to fight the outbreak.
The main strategy was to protect houses and forestry, Mr Murphy
said, explaining that flames were 6m (20ft) high in places and it
had been “quite scary” for some householders.
A Coillte helicopter which replenished itself in one of the many
small lakes in the fire-affected area north of Castlebar,
concentrated on preventing the flames from engulfing valuable
forestry plantations.
A Coillte spokesman said that the fire in Recess was extinguished
finally yesterday evening, and the Pontoon situation was “under
control”.
Met Éireann has said that exceptionally dry weather has meant that
only 10-20 per cent of average rainfall has been recorded over the
past fortnight in parts of the west.
Mr Gallagher paid tribute to local authority firefighters and
those civilians who had also assisted, but said that he believed
there was no overall emergency response plan in place to ensure
that the Defence Forces were deployed “without delay”.
The Fianna Fáil MEP said a package should be put in place to
assist farmers and families whose property had been affected, and
he said he was calling on Mr Coveney to view the extent of the
damage first-hand.
The PSNI and fire services in the North have warned hill-walkers
and holidaymakers to avoid the Mourne Mountains area of Co Down
over the coming days as they tackle a series of blazes.
Firefighters reported seeing 12mflames at the height of the
emergency.
DUP South Down Assembly candidate Jim Wells said he visited fire
and rescue and ambulance staff dealing with a large gorse fire and
said anyone found guilty of arson should face a custodial
sentence.
He said fire service staff from the nearby Newcastle station in Co
Down had dealt with 120 fire call-outs in the last week.
“This problem has increased significantly in recent years and
action must be taken to deal with the rapidly deteriorating
situation,” he added.