Mournes: Firefighters extinguish fires on mountains

Firefighters tackled fires on mountains in the Mournes

Firefighters have extinguished fires on the Mourne mountains in County Down.

The blaze had been described as "significant", with the fire front measuring about two miles (3km) long at midnight.

Crews were first called to the area on Tuesday evening.

But the blaze posed no risk to life or property, so the situation was monitored overnight. The public was asked to avoid the area.

In an update at about 20:00 GMT on Wednesday, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said that fires at Spelga and the Hen and Cock mountains had been extinguished, and that crews had been withdrawn.

In an earlier update on Wednesday, the fire service said firefighters had responded to a number of wildfires, "including two significant ones in the Mourne mountains".

"At the height of both of these incidents, six appliances and over 30 personnel were in attendance at each incident," the NIFRS said.

"Our firefighters have not only worked really hard when responding to these incidents but have also continued to provide cover and respond to incidents across the wider Mournes area.

"These incidents do put an additional strain on our resources and therefore we are asking for the public to support us by not starting fires in the countryside."

NIFRS said earlier that firefighters used "beaters and knapsack sprayers" to extinguish the blaze.

BBC News NI south east reporter Cormac Campbell, at the scene, said the landscape was completely black.

After monitoring the situation overnight, NIFRS group commander Mark Smyth said crews returned on Wednesday morning to assess the situation.

"At midnight there was an approximate size of the fire front of two miles long, so it's a fairly significant fire," Mr Smyth said.

"That's just the fire front itself. How deep it went into the mountain and down the side of it, we weren't sure last night due to not being able to get on to the mountain."

Mr Smyth said crews worked hard to limit the damage.

The fire front in the Mournes was approximately two miles long at midnight

When asked why crews held off until the morning to tackle the fire, Mr Smyth said it was for the safety of firefighters.

Mr Smyth also described any deliberate harm to the environment and wildlife as "vandalism".

The cause of the blaze is still unknown.

However, Mr Smyth said wildfires in Northern Ireland were rarely accidental.

"We will be concentrating on suppressing the fire if we can and getting it under control.

"And then after, as a multi-agency approach with Environment Agency and PSNI, we might consider an investigation into how it started."

The fires in the Mournes are the latest in a number of gorse fires this week.

A fire in Belfast's Cave Hill broke out on Monday night.

Others were put out on nearby Black Mountain and in Rathfriland, County Down.

Mr Smyth says they caused significant damage to wildlife and the environment.

"A couple of our fires in the Belfast area this week, the reports came back from the crews that it was a deliberate fire," he said.

"Every fire is a deliberate fire, we have very few natural fires that happen in the wild in Northern Ireland."