Gorse fire: Firefighters continue to tackle Glenariff blaze

A farmer whose family land is alongside the path of a large gorse fire in County Antrim has described it as her "worst nightmare".

About 35 firefighters, six appliances and one high-volume pump remain at the scene of the blaze at Ballyeamon Road, Glenariff, on Thursday night.

It is expected that additional resources will be sent to the scene at first light on Friday.

The fire was first reported just before 14:00 BST on Wednesday.

Earlier on Thursday more than 80 firefighters and 14 appliances tackled the blaze which had a fire front of 1km.

On Thursday afternoon, the Irish Air Corps joined the effort supporting the fire service.

At the scene, farmer Catherine Crawford told BBC News NI: "I have never known a fire here in Glenariff and I'm here 30 odd years.

More than 80 firefighters were at the scene on Thursday evening

"I never want to see another one, the way it has done damage here at the minute.

"It's just anybody's worst nightmare to be involved with a gorse fire.

"If it spreads out onto the mountain, there's livestock, sheep on each side of the fire."

She added: "With so much smoke last night we were all told to close our windows, keep doors closed and make sure all the elderly people stayed in and were safe.

"It was pretty scary here last night."

'Challenging time'

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) Deputy Chief Officer Paul Harper welcomed the support of the Irish Air Corps as firefighters continue to work in "punishing conditions".

"Deploying water directly onto the fire from the air will greatly enhance our firefighting operations," he said.

Support from the Irish Air Corps has been welcomed

"We have implemented several contingencies to ensure we can maintain a response to all types of emergencies today. We continue to do all we can to support our firefighters on the front line during this challenging time."

Mr Harper added that he expected the gorse fire to continue for a further 24 to 48 hours.

A major incident was declared on Wednesday evening as the NIFRS dealt with a number of gorse fires.

On Thursday night NIFRS Chief Officer Aidan Jennings said that from early Wednesday morning until 11pm on Thursday, the fire service received 650 emergency calls and mobilised to 266 incidents, with 80 of these being wildfire incidents.

He said the fire service had mobilised 496 firefighting pumps and specialist appliances to deal with the incidents.

Tiarnan Donnelly, John Crawford and Catherine Crawford watch as an Irish Air Corps brings water to the scene.

"Our firefighters have been working in extremely challenging and exhausting conditions whilst battling to bring these wildfires under control," Mr Jennings said.

"I would like to pay credit to our firefighters, control room operators, supervisory officers and support staff, all of whom have responded and in many cases come on duty or remained on duty to support our operational response and enhanced resilience arrangements."

Overnight 50 firefighters dealt with a gorse fire in Clogher, County Tyrone, which has now been extinguished.

Also on Wednesday, firefighters were called to a gorse fire at Slievenaman Road, Newcastle, which was declared fully extinguished shortly after 16:00.

14 pumping appliances and a specialist wildfire team are still at the blaze in Glenariff

Earlier on Thursday, Chief Officer Jennings said it was too early to suggest a cause of the gorse fires but in his experience "they need an ignition source and it is usually deliberate".

He called on the public to be vigilant when enjoying the good weather, use dedicated safe spots to barbeque and dispose of cigarettes safely.

He also advised the public to avoid the areas where fires are ongoing and to drive carefully if they find themselves nearby.

Heatwave conditions

The gorse fires follow a prolonged period of warm and dry weather across Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has experienced a heatwave in recent days

On Tuesday, parts of Northern Ireland were officially under heatwave conditions according to the Met Office.

In Northern Ireland, a heatwave is when temperatures exceed 25C for at least three consecutive days.

According to the Met Office this has happened in the north-west, in counties Antrim and Londonderry.

Tuesday also marked the highest June temperature in five years.