Clare County Fire & Rescue Service has appealed to members of the public to be vigilant over the weekend following a spate of gorse and forestry fires around the County in recent days.
Angela Naughton, Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer said dozens of fires in multiple locations throughout Clare have caused “a major drain on Fire Service resources and consequently have reduced the service’s capability to respond quickly to other emergency incidents”.
Fire Brigades from Ennis, Shannon, Killaloe, Kilrush, Ennistymon, Kilkee and Scarriff have attended fires this week in areas including Shannon, Doonass, Coore, Twomilegate, Ennis, Cahermurphy, Doonbeg, Ogonnelloe, Connolly, Doolin, Tulla, Portroe, Kilmaley, Whitegate, Ballycuggeran, Doora, Killaloe, Ballymacurtaun, Booltiagh and Crusheen. On Wednesday night, every available firefighter in the County was deployed as a result of gorse and forestry fires. Fire crews are this afternoon responding to a number of other new gorse and forestry fires.
Ms. Naughton warned that life and property are being put at risk by the fires which have caused hundreds of acres of damage to forestry and land.
“The highest risk period for quickly spreading fires occurs between March and June, when ground vegetation is dead and dry following the winter period. Fires have spread quickly this week due to the dry vegetation, low humidity and strong easterly winds which fed the fires,” she stated.
Ms. Naughton continued: “We would like to remind landowners that it is an offence under the Wildlife Act to burn growing vegetation between 1 March and 31 August in any year, on any land not then cultivated. The sad fact is that if this simple rule was adhered to, many costly and dangerous wildfires would be avoided.”
Details of the laws in relation to burning are available on the Council website, www.clarecoco.ie or the Department of Agriculture and Food website, www.agriculture.gov.ie. The advice includes:
- Landowners burning gorse, scrub, or vegetation must inform the Fire Service at least one day in advance on 999 or 112 providing details of the location, time and duration of burning.
- In addition, landowners burning within 1 mile of woodland must notify the local Garda Station and woodland owner in writing at least 7 days in advance.
- Where burning is to take place within a Special Area of Conservation or Natural Heritage Area, written consent must be sought in advance from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
- It is illegal to burn household or commercial/industrial waste, household green waste (e.g. hedging), electric cables for the recovery of copper, or to burn waste in bonfires.
- There is a temporary exemption until 1st January 2014 for waste generated by agricultural practices, but efforts must be first made to reduce, reuse, and recycle the waste and burning must only be considered as a final measure. Waste must be untreated and uncontaminated by other waste.
- Further advice is contained in the “Prescribed Burning Code of Practice” leaflet which the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has produced to provide guidance to landowners who use controlled burning as a land management tool.
Angela Naughton, Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer said dozens of fires in multiple locations throughout Clare have caused “a major drain on Fire Service resources and consequently have reduced the service’s capability to respond quickly to other emergency incidents”.
Fire Brigades from Ennis, Shannon, Killaloe, Kilrush, Ennistymon, Kilkee and Scarriff have attended fires this week in areas including Shannon, Doonass, Coore, Twomilegate, Ennis, Cahermurphy, Doonbeg, Ogonnelloe, Connolly, Doolin, Tulla, Portroe, Kilmaley, Whitegate, Ballycuggeran, Doora, Killaloe, Ballymacurtaun, Booltiagh and Crusheen. On Wednesday night, every available firefighter in the County was deployed as a result of gorse and forestry fires. Fire crews are this afternoon responding to a number of other new gorse and forestry fires.
Ms. Naughton warned that life and property are being put at risk by the fires which have caused hundreds of acres of damage to forestry and land.
“The highest risk period for quickly spreading fires occurs between March and June, when ground vegetation is dead and dry following the winter period. Fires have spread quickly this week due to the dry vegetation, low humidity and strong easterly winds which fed the fires,” she stated.
Ms. Naughton continued: “We would like to remind landowners that it is an offence under the Wildlife Act to burn growing vegetation between 1 March and 31 August in any year, on any land not then cultivated. The sad fact is that if this simple rule was adhered to, many costly and dangerous wildfires would be avoided.”
Details of the laws in relation to burning are available on the Council website, www.clarecoco.ie or the Department of Agriculture and Food website, www.agriculture.gov.ie. The advice includes:
- Landowners burning gorse, scrub, or vegetation must inform the Fire Service at least one day in advance on 999 or 112 providing details of the location, time and duration of burning.
- In addition, landowners burning within 1 mile of woodland must notify the local Garda Station and woodland owner in writing at least 7 days in advance.
- Where burning is to take place within a Special Area of Conservation or Natural Heritage Area, written consent must be sought in advance from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
- It is illegal to burn household or commercial/industrial waste, household green waste (e.g. hedging), electric cables for the recovery of copper, or to burn waste in bonfires.
- There is a temporary exemption until 1st January 2014 for waste generated by agricultural practices, but efforts must be first made to reduce, reuse, and recycle the waste and burning must only be considered as a final measure. Waste must be untreated and uncontaminated by other waste.
- Further advice is contained in the “Prescribed Burning Code of Practice” leaflet which the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has produced to provide guidance to landowners who use controlled burning as a land management tool.
