Farmers to face stiffer penalties for scrub fires

FARMERS in West Cork who deliberately start scrub fires during the closed season could face far stiffer penalties, including that of reckless endangerment which carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

A “get tough” approach is to be adopted by a new multi-agency task force which is aiming to stamp out the potentially lethal practice during the traditional dry spell between March 1 and August 31. It is illegal to set fires during this period.

In the first three weeks of last month, 54 illegally set fires were recorded in West Cork, most of which occurred in the Bantry area.