LIVEKillarney blaze ‘devastating on an epic scale’

While the full scale of the damage has yet to be assessed, the fire was last night expected to continue to blaze through a third night.

Jimmy Sweetman, Killarney Water Rescue Search and Recover, assessing the fire burning in Killarney National Park at the moment, Eagle's Nest, and much of the Park is under fire, currently, The National Parks and Wildlife Services, Irish Air Corps ,Kerry County Council Fire Department and Water Rescue Search and Recovery, have been dispatched to help contain the fire. Photo: Valerie O'Sullivan/

Kerry’s chief fire officer estimates that up to 2,000 hectares of Killarney National Park has already been destroyed by fires which, it is feared, may have been started deliberately.

As fires continue to burn through the night in parts of the park, including a blaze in the Black Valley which was extinguished just after midnight, attention now turns to finding the source of the fire and assessing the scale of the damage.