This article is from page 53 of the 2007-04-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 53 JPG
Wel Sree lia acwreuon oes (CoeKEo.¢olou ce enced its busiest week in many years with each of Clare’s seven fire sta- tions responding to a series of gorse, bog and forest fires over a wide area.
To the week ending April 20, fire crews responded to more than 30 gorse and forest fires across Clare spending. They spent almost 60 hours tackling the blazes over hun- dreds of acres.
The weekend rain brought a wel- come respite, helping to bring many
fires under control and extinguishing others. Fire crews hope continuing rain will prevent fires from restarting although it is feared that the worst of the gorse fire season 1s yet to come.
Units of the brigade from different stations were called to some of the fires.
The most severe took up to seven hours to bring under control. Less threatening fires were allowed burn out. The fires were at Kilmaley, Whitegate, Mountshannon, Kilfeno- ra, Broadford, Doonbeg and Mo- yasta.
Clare County Fire Service was un- able to confirm the actual causes of the fires in Clare.
It is thought that in some cases lo- cal farmers began to burn off gorse on their lands and these fires got out of control. However, the hot weath- er probably caused the majority of NB Kee
The fire authority has warned that burning of gorse on lands is prohib- ited between March | and August 31 each year. According to Clare Coun- ty Fire Service Chief Officer Adrian Kelly, “Landowners have a special
responsibility to preserve the coun- tryside, its landscape and its wildlife. They should take reasonable precau- tions to ensure that uncontrolled fires do not occur on their property be- tween March and September.”
Clare County Council’s fire author- ity has laid down very strict guide- lines. “Where farmers are burning scrub/vegetation, they must in all cases inform the fire service at least one day before burning, giving the location, time and duration of burn- ing,’ Chief Kelly said.
Speaking about the public involve-
ment in assisting to fight fires on lands, Adrian Kelly said, “While Coillte personnel and ourselves gen- erally work in groups, both to be more effective and also for safety es- pecially during dusk hours, members of the public that assist may not do deh
“They must also be co-ordinated. If members of the public/landown- ers are assisting Coillte/Fire Service, they should accompany these per- sonnel at all times to ensure proper co-ordination of resources to deal with these incidents.”