Hopes Slievenamon wildfire could be quelled in coming days
Members of the Irish Air Corps provide aerial support in tackling a major wildfire at Slievenamon, Co Tipperary.
Fire crews were still on site in Slievenamon, Co Tipperary, on Friday morning as a wildfire that has been spreading for five days continues to burn.
Tipperary fire services said they are hopeful the wildfire will be fully extinguished in the next few days, as efforts continue on various locations across the mountain.
However senior firefighters have cautioned that much depends on weather conditions and wind direction.
The blaze broke out on Monday, and had spread to the adjacent Coillte forest by Wednesday.
A multi-agency response is under way as progress is being made to tackle the blaze.
Local farmers have been helping out emergency services, using their tractors and tankers to help tackle the wildfire.
The air corps has provided aerial support, including by dropping buckets of water on the flames in a bid to stop them spreading.
While Tipperary County Council have said there is no immediate threat to life, they have encouraged members of the public to stay away from the affected area and avoid all non-essential travel nearby to allow emergency services unrestricted access.
On Friday, chief fire officer with Tipperary Fire Service John Shinners said the wildfire on Slievenamon is moving towards new fuel on the north-eastern corner of the mountain.
“We had a really, really good day yesterday. This morning, we were changing wind direction,” he told RTÉ.
“The southern end of the mountain, which was causing us the most concern up to this point, it’s not extinguished, it’s less active and it’s an area we are going to be keeping an eye on, but we are seeing a movement of the fire towards the north-east corner of the mountain,” he said.
Acting senior assistant chief fire officer with Tipperary Fire and Rescue Service Carol Kennedy said that the fire had subsided on the south side of Slievenamon overnight.
“There are a number of hotspots that we’re going to target today, and Civil Defence were down with their thermal imaging drone this morning,” she told RTÉ.
“There is a large fireline but we have aerial support again coming this morning and we have more men on the ground to help on that front.” She cautioned that wildfires are very hard to predict due to the extent and the nature of them, adding that much depends on the weather and wind direction.
“We’re hoping within the next couple of days that we will really see a wind down with this fire,” she said.
Meanwhile, experts have said poor air quality can cause several health issues and is likely to be responsible for more than 1,300 needless deaths in Ireland a year, with such wildfires now inevitable as climate change worsens.
Nature minister Christopher O'Sullivan told the that while climate change is contributing to more frequent periods of extreme weather, "no fire happens naturally in Ireland".
“These are all started either intentionally, or through recklessness. And even though we will get more periods of dry weather, we can prevent fires, like forest fires, by being more responsible, by not using barbecues, by not disposing of cigarettes inappropriately. If we can cut that out, then we can prevent a lot of this damage,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Check out the Irish Examiner's WEATHER CENTRE for regularly updated short and long range forecasts wherever you are.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
