News
Return of the rain dampens gorse fire fears
THE ‘break’ in the weather looks set to provide some respite for fire fighters, Gardaí and plantation owners who have been ‘at their wits end’ over the past fortnight in trying to contain gorse fires all across the county.
The rains that arrived on Wednesday are expected to considerably dampen down gorse that was ‘bone dry’ after extremely low levels of rainfall in the first half of April.
Galway/Mayo IFA Regional Officer, Roy O’Brien, told The Connacht Tribune that the gorse fires occurring in different parts of the county over the past two weeks, had posed a threat to both property and people.
“Gorse and vegetation was extremely dry over recent weeks and one spark was enough to set off a fire that could engulf 30 or 40 acres in the space of an hour or two.
“There were cases in Galway where houses and outbuildings were threatened by the fires – we are asking farmers to be vigilant at all times.
“Where farmers need to burn bushes they should contact the local authority and fire service in advance – caution really has to be the guiding principle here,” said Roy O’Brien.
He said that the change in the weather over the past few days would help to ease the gorse fire problem and would also be welcome to farmers with the ground conditions getting extremely dry.
Over the past two weeks, Gardaí reported gorse fires in parts of Connemara, North Galway and South Galway, with thousands of acres of ground affected.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.