Gardaí investigate after 12-hour fire that threatened homes

Gardaí are continuing their investigations after a raging fire threatened homes as well as the forests of Killarney National Park in the early hours of yesterday.

Firefighters from Kerry fought the blaze for more than 12 hours, until 6am yesterday.

The county’s assistant chief fire officer, Mike Flynn, said it was miraculous that lives and properties had not been lost.

The out-of-control fire reached the boundary fences of some family homes in the foothills of Mangerton, a buffer zone of the national park. Walkers had to be escorted to safety on Wednesday evening.

As firefighters bravely fought the outbreak, at times in 2.5m-high areas of gorse, a number of other fires were reportedly set in the Muckross area during strong windy conditions.

A large enough fire is burning near Mangerton close to the eastern edge of the National Park. pic.twitter.com/MxowWKMen0

— Seán O'Callaghan (@KerrysWildside) April 8, 2015

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Mr Flynn appealed to farmers and others not to set wildfires in dry and windy weather. Apart from being illegal under the Wildlife Acts, the current dry spell is extremely dangerous. “It is the worst time to burn gorse,” he said.

The Mangerton area is visited by hundreds of walkers weekly. On Wednesday evening, a number were almost trapped because of the fires. Parked cars belonging to hillwalkers were also threatened, said Mr Flynn, while sightseers also had to be escorted to safety.

The woodlands of Killarney National Park were within metres of the blaze and Mr Flynn said it was miraculous that serious damage was not caused, given the extremely windy conditions on Mangerton.

A total of 35 firefighters were at the scene, containing the illegal blaze fanned by easterly winds.

However, while the fire service was deployed at Mangerton, an area just west of it was set alight and threatened Loughquittane National School.Mr Flynn said the biggest challenge facing the firefighters was trying to divert the fire from homes.

Six fire engines, a number of SUVs, and water tankers from Killarney, Castleisland, Kenmare, and Killorglin were tasked to the scene in the 100 acres on the lower slope, which is an important buffer zone for Killarney National Park.

The Mangerton foothills, close to the start of the Scots Pine Forests on the eastern edge of the park, has been subjected to regular and deliberate burning over the past decade despite the fact much of it is not an area grazed by sheep or other domestic animals.

Home to nesting birds, deer, and other wildlife, it is bordered by significant housing.

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