Mournes: Firefighters monitoring two separate fires

The fire on Hen Mountain started on Tuesday night

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) was monitoring two gorse fires in the Mourne mountains on Tuesday night.

The fires at Hen Mountain and Spelga posed no risk to life or property, NIFRS said.

The fire service said they would be extinguished on Wednesday morning when it was safer to do so.

Two other fires, at Cave Hill and in the Mourne mountains, were started deliberately, it said.

The fire at Spelga was estimated to be around 30 to 40 acres in size, with the blaze on Hen Mountain stretching for about two miles.

They are the latest in a number of gorse fires since Monday.

The Cave Hill fire, which broke out on Monday night, caused about 300 square metres of damage.

Another blaze near Rostrevor Road, Rathfriland was attended by seven appliances on Tuesday morning.

Another fire on Black Mountain on Tuesday was extinguished on Tuesday evening, NIFRS said.

A separate fire in the same area was also put out on Monday night.

The service said it received several calls about a fire on Cave Hill on Monday night from 19:45 GMT onwards.

Fire crews were initially not deployed as there was no risk to life or property.

Two appliances attended the scene on Tuesday morning, confirming the fire had been extinguished by 08:00 GMT.

The fire near Rostrevor Road, which is also thought to be deliberate, was dealt with by 11:14 GMT.

The fire can be seen burning in the background in this picture taken in the Cliftonville area by Councillor Mal O'Hara

Meanwhile, another fire on Black Mountain was tackled by two appliances on Monday night from 17:50 GMT.

They left the scene at 19:30.

Green Party councillor Mal O'Hara said he was "deeply concerned" about the impact the fire may have on wildlife and the natural environment of Cave Hill.

"Fires like this can have major implications on this finely balanced environment," he said.

"Hopefully fire and rescue services will be able to bring the blaze under control safely, as soon as light returns."

Worried about wildlife

Cormac Hamill from the Cave Hill Conservation Campaign walked there on Tuesday morning.

He said the fire on Monday was one of the biggest he had seen on Cave Hill and it had been extremely damaging to animals.

"We are lucky in a way that ground birds haven't started nesting there yet," he said.

"They're able to fly away from the danger. They're hunting for nesting sites so they will have been put off."

The gorse fire at Cave Hill started on Monday evening

The destruction has taken away the habitat of many insects which Mr Hamill said would have an affect on other wildlife.

"The life that lives in the heather has been destroyed," he added.

"Those insects provides the birds with food. So they are affected even though it's very early in the season.

"We've also got lizards just about starting to poke out and become active. They can scuttle but they can't get away from an extensive fire.

"The worrying thing is that what happens very often on cave hill is it seems to in some way inspire copycat fires and then you get a spate of them."