Spelga Dam: 'Deliberate' fire rages on in Mourne mountains

Sunday night's fire at Spelga Dam captured by Teresa Caulfield

Firefighters are continuing to tackle a large gorse fire at Spelga Dam in the Mourne Mountains.

The fire was started deliberately on Sunday shortly after 19:00 BST, the NI Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said.

On Monday morning, 24 firefighters were at the scene and four pumps were being used.

Fire crews are also in attendance at a gorse fire in the Altagarron Road area of Claudy, County Londonderry.

NIFRS said on Monday afternoon that eight fire appliances with specialist wildfire equipment had been deployed and asked people to avoid the area.

There have been a series of gorse fires in recent days in the Mournes and on Belfast's Cave Hill and Black Mountain.

At its peak, about 20 acres of gorse were alight near Spelga Dam and the fire front was one mile long.

The situation was monitored overnight and on Monday morning, the fire service said 10 acres were still alight.

A spokesperson said crews had now been able to surround the blaze to bring it under control.

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The latest blaze follows fires at Spelga and on Hen and Cock mountains last week, as well as a gorse fire in the Bloody Bridge area which firefighters believe was started deliberately.

There have been a series of wildfires in the Mournes and in Belfast in recent days

There were also fires on Cave Hill and Black Mountain in Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service warned the public of the "devastating impact" of wildfires.

It said dealing with the blazes had a draining effect on its resources.

Skylarks are among the declining bird species affected by the loss of habitat caused by gorse fires

Last year, the dry March and even drier April saw wildfires take hold in mountain regions across Northern Ireland.

The Mourne Mountains are cared for by the National Trust which said 200 hectares of moorland had been destroyed in 2021.

The trust said that a diverse range of plants were lost and declining bird species such as the skylark, meadow pipit and snipe were affected as well as other wildlife including the Irish hare.

Important peat soils were also scorched and destroyed.