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Fire crews tackle almost 300 wildfires in a week

Martin McKenna An aerial image of the wildfire at Corrick Road outside Draperstown. Plumes of grey smoke are spread across a large area of hillside. Much of the grassland is blackened but there is a green field to the left and green fields in the distance.Martin McKenna
Dozens of firefighters tackled a deliberate blaze outside Draperstown on Thursday

Firefighters are dealing with a gorse fire at Brookeborough, County Fermanagh - one of almost 300 wildfires they have responded to over the past week.

The Brookeborough fire was reported shortly before 14:00 BST and 33 firefighters were deployed, according to the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS).

Earlier, it confirmed its staff attended 1,112 incidents from Thursday 3 April to Thursday 10 April, 296 of which were wildfires.

Chief Fire Officer Aidan Jennings commended his staff for their "exceptional work" during what he said were "extremely challenging and exhausting conditions".

Many of the wildfires were started deliberately and Mr Jennings appealed to the public to "stay vigilant" as a hazard warning for wildfires remains in place.

"Many of the incidents our service has responded to in the last seven days have been significant, with one wildfire declared as a major incident and multiple others occurring simultaneously," the chief fire officer said.

"This, coupled with the many other fire and special service emergency calls we have received, has created a challenge for us in maintaining normal service delivery."

The major incident was declared last Saturday when a "significant wildfire" threatened homes on the edge of the Mourne Mountains in County Down.

More than 100 firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze on Sandbank Road in Hilltown.

The Mournes were among the worst-hit areas with 147 wildfires reported between last Thurday and Wednesday morning.

A wide shot of the huge plume of smoke coming from a wildfire at Sandbank Road, Hilltown, last Saturday. Three mountains are visible in the picture, one close up on the left and two in the distance, one of which is on fire. The smoking is spreading across a cloudless blue sky.
A wildfire at Sandbank Road, Hilltown, caused a major incident last weekend

'Working tirelessly'

Rural parts of County Tyrone also sufffered, with one man praising firefighters for saving his home from a large mountain fire outside Ballygawley on Tuesday.

In a statement on Friday evening, Mr Jennings paid tribute to his full-time staff and added part-time on-call firefighters "have been remarkable".

"I want to thank them, their employers and their families for their support and understanding at this time," he said.

The chief fire officer also paid tribute to NIFRS control room operators who have dealt with 2,014 emergency calls over the past week.

Some of those calls are likely to have been repeat calls about incidents already reported and Mr Jennings said they have been "working tirelessly behind the scenes to support the operational response".

BBC News NI asked NIFRS if it could estimate the percentage of wildfires which were deliberately set, but it could not provide figures as some of the incidents are still under investigation.

NIFRS A firefighter dampening flames at a wildfire. The man is wearing a brown protective suit, a red helmet, red gloves, black-rimmed protective glasses and a white mask. He is standing on green grass but the plants in front of the grass are on fire and there is a large amont of smoke. NIFRS
NIFRS said its staff were facing "extremely challenging and exhausting conditions"

Among the fires which were described as deliberate was a blaze outside Draperstown on the evening of Thursday 10 April.

At its peak, there were 54 firefighters, the NIFRS specialist wildfire team and seven fire appliances at the incident at Corrick Road.

The fire was reported to NIFRS at 17:30 BST on Thursday and was extinguished at about 21:30.

Martin McKenna An aerial image of the wildfire at Corrick Road outside Draperstown. Plumes of grey smoke are spread across a large area of hillside. Much of the grassland is blackened and the smoke is across the middle of the image.Martin McKenna
Firefighters took four hours to put the blaze near Draperstown out

The Draperstown fire was tackled by crews from Strabane, Dungiven, Cookstown, Pomeroy and the specialist rescue team from Newry.

The incident commander Karen McDowell said crews took four hours to put the fire out, battlling difficult terrain and logistical challenges.

The "vast majority" of recent wildfires "have been started deliberately," she told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

Martin McKenna An aerial image of the wildfire at Corrick Road outside Draperstown. Plumes of grey smoke are spread across a large area of hillside. Much of the grassland is blackened and orange flames can be seen in the centre.Martin McKenna
The fire was tackled by crews from across the region

Wildfires, she added, "tie up a huge amount of resources" and take them away from communities where they are needed.

"We would appeal to everybody to be very careful to reduce the likelihood of fires," she said.

Martin McKenna An aerial image of the wildfire at Corrick Road outside Draperstown. Plumes of grey smoke are spread across a large area of hillside. Much of the grassland is blackened and the smoke is spread right across the image. Martin McKenna
A national hazards management yellow wildfire warning remains in place

Elsewhere on Thursday, firefighters were deployed to small gorse fires at Tursallagh Road, Sixmilecross, County Tyrone and Friary Road, Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.

"With the weather warning still in place, we are reminding the public to adhere to our fire safety advice," NIFRS said.

"Please stay vigilant to fire in the countryside. If you see a fire, call 999."

A national hazards management yellow wildfire warning remains in place across Northern Ireland.