Kerry fire service attends to 44 illegal wildfires during March

The Kerry Fire and Rescue Service has attended 44 illegal wildfires during the month of March, within metres of the Killarney National Park.

Burning of uplands is illegal from March 1 under the Wildlife Acts and the closed season runs to the end of August.

The figures released by the county council in Kerry also show that an additional eight fires got out of control and had to be attended to during February when burning on scrubland is not illegal.

The call-out figures to out-of-control wildfires represent half the total for the whole of 2014.

The local fire service attribute the high number to windows of opportunity in the weather before the growing season begins.

However, one of the fires in March near the foot of Mangerton, bordering the Killarney National Park, was lit during a gale-force wind and it travelled so fast it crossed a roadway and a number of houses were threatened, according to the fire service which described the act as “totally irresponsible”.

Organisations such as the Irish Wildlife Trust have called for a complete ban on upland burning saying it does no good and in fact damages the environment as well as wildlife immeasurably.

The IWT has called on Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to withhold single-farm payments from landowners who burn.

“Reports from all over Ireland show that the annual bonfire of our countryside is well under way. This illegal practice is resulting in the massive degradation of upland habitats and is driving species to extinction. While illegal burning technically threatens a land owner’s single farm payment, the IWT believes that this is not routinely enforced. Apart from the massive damage that uncontrolled fires cause to wildlife they also pollute water, air and threaten property,” the IWT said.

Meanwhile, a review on the burning season initiated by Heather Humphreys, minister for arts, heritage and the Gaeltacht, has attracted almost 200 submissions. The minister said she was concerned that landowners found the closed period from March 1 to August 31 “too inflexible”.

Rural councils as well as farming organisations want local factors such as road safety and weather to dictate the burning and cutting arrangements and have made submissions to that effect.

A spokesman said the final number of submissions received was 188 and a working group set up to consider the matter. The group will be making proposals to the minister in due course, he said.

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