Senator calls for Defence Forces to tackle wildfires

Discarding a cigarette or dumping barbeque coals in national parks and nature reserves, coastal sand dunes, mountains and upland areas, forests, meadows and urban parks can have devastating impact

The wildfire at Glenkeen, near Louisbugh. Picture: Glenkeen Farm

Deploy the Defence Forces and their equipment to tackle the growing number of devastating forest and gorse fires, the Government was urged in the Senate.

It followed a recent spate of fires countrywide and the issuing of numerous orange alerts to the public by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.