Fire crews called to mountain fire after battling bog fires for two days

Fire crews from two stations were last night battling to bring a large mountain fire under control in East Clare.

Firefighters from Scarriff station fought several bog and forestry fires on Saturday and Sunday and were joined by colleagues from Killaloe station yesterday.

Several fires were reported close to forestry at Flagmount on Saturday while a helicopter was also used to tackle the blazes which threatened forestry and a log cabin in one area.

Further outbreaks occurred in the same area again yesterday resulting in fire crews being mobilised again to deal with the blazes.

It is understood that fires at Flagmount may have been started deliberately and that two cars with several youths were seen in the area around the time of the fires. Gardaí are investigating the incident and are believed to have a description of the vehicles.

Meanwhile, after dealing with the fires at Flagmount yesterday for a second day, fire crews were alerted last night to a large fire on a mountain at Woodfield in East Clare, a short distance from Mountshannon close to the Galway border.

Firefighters from Scarriff and Killaloe responded to the area which was difficult to access.

Fire personnel had to make their way across difficult terrain in the dark to reach the fires and spent several hours dealing with them while also contending with windy conditions.

There was no immediate indication of how this fire began.