A Galway city councillor is calling for an awareness campaign to be launched in a bid to prevent gorse fires.
Fianna Fáil councillor John Connolly made the comments following an extensive gorse fire in the western suburbs of Galway city last night (Wednesday, June 8).
Galway Fire Brigade spent several hours bringing the blaze on an area of commonage between two rural roads in the townlands of Tonabrocky and Boleybeg under control.
This morning, there are reports of smoke still being seen in the area.
Gorse fire
Cllr. Connolly told Agriland that he first noticed smoke from the fire shortly before 8:00p.m on Wednesday.
“I was seeing smoke rise, a limited amount of smoke, but then it intensified from that time.
“I went to visit the area again at around 11:30 last night and there was still flames, there was still fire fighting,” he said.
The councillor said that locals were concerned by the proximity of the fire to their homes.
“A garda source did tell me last night that it wasn’t necessary to evacuate any of the houses, but I would have been concerned if I was living close to it myself,” he said.
The fire also resulted in the temporary closure of some local roads and the diversion of traffic from the impacted area.
Cllr. Connolly said that it is not the first time that such an incident has taken place.
“Gorse fire is not unusual in this part of the city. But certainly last night’s event was of a greater extreme than what we would have encountered in some time.
“We haven’t had rainfall in over two weeks and this would have been an area where there wouldn’t have been stone wall or anything between it, even though it is an extensive land holding,” he said.
Warning
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has issued a Condition Orange warning signifying a high fire risk until next Monday, June 12.
The warning has been issued as westerly high-pressure continues to dominate Ireland’s weather.
The department said that areas where there are gorse, heather or dead grasses are particularly at risk from fires.
DAFM urged forest owners and managers to “prepare for likely outbreaks of fire”.
It said that forest owners, farmers, rural dwellers and other countryside users should be extremely vigilant regarding fire activity.
Met Éireann said that the weather will be mainly dry over the coming few days. Most of the country will see very little or no rainfall and drought conditions are likely to increase in coverage.
However, there will be a subtle change to the weather pattern this weekend with the increased likelihood of rain or showers at times.
Awareness campaign
Cllr. Connolly praised the efforts of fire fighters to bring the blaze in Galway under control and ensure there was no loss of life or property.
“I don’t know where the responsibility directly falls in terms of trying to prevent this type of incident occurring.
“I will be contacting the city council this morning to maybe say it’s time to start an awareness campaign when get weather like this of the danger of gorse fire, how quickly it can spread and how it can easily put people at risk.
“Maybe it’s time for an awareness campaign around that in an effort to try and make sure that we don’t have a repeat incident?” Connolly said.