Firefighters tackle sweeping blaze

Dozens of firefighters from four different stations were last night battling to save homes and forestry threatened by one of the largest gorse fires in Co Clare for several years.

Fire crews managed to prevent one home from being engulfed in flames and battled to save others after the massive fire swept through hundreds of acres of scrubland.

Fires were reported along both sides of a 6km stretch of the Ennis to Miltown Malbay R474 road between The Hand and Coore East. Gardaí had to close the roads as poor visibility hampered motorists.

One farmer’s shed was engulfed in flames. However fire crews and locals battled to prevent the blaze spreading to any other buildings. Other farmers had to move vehicles from their property.

Thousands of acres of forestry remained under threat last night after fires swept across the landscape with incredible speed.

Fire crews from Ennistymon responded to the incident but requested assistance from Ennis station. Further crews were sought from Shannon and Kilrush.

While all resources from Ennis station were tied up, crews from Gort in Co Galway and Shannon in Clare had to respond to a road traffic accident on the outskirts of Ennis.

By 6.30pm, the county’s fire service was stretched to capacity with all seven stations dealing with incidents at the same time.

A crew from Scarriff had to be mobilised to Ennis to provide cover for the town while personnel at Kilkee fire station were on standby for the Kilrush area.

At about 6pm, as fire crews battled to keep the fire south of the R474 road, locals began arriving to lend assistance.

The fires came just a day after a warning was issued about the dangers of illegal burning and forest, bog and gorse fires.

The cause of last night’s fires was not immediately known but locals believe the dry conditions and temperatures of up to 15 degrees were likely to have been a factor.