Firefighting crews extinguished a large gorse wildfire in north Co. Dublin yesterday evening, Sunday, April 26 – and used the situation to test new backpack sprayers, according to Dublin Fire Brigade.
Taking to social media yesterday, the fire service’s Twitter account posted:
“Firefighters from Kilbarrack fire station have extinguished a gorse wildfire in Howth this evening.
Firefighters from Kilbarrack fire station have extinguished a gorse wildfire in #Howth this evening. Crews are testing new backpack sprayers designed for this kind of firefighting #Dublin #fire pic.twitter.com/fs1I4zCGMA
— Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) April 26, 2020
“Crews are testing new backpack sprayers designed for this kind of firefighting,” the tweet added.
Earlier during the day yesterday, Dublin Fire Brigade issued a warning over the threat of gorse fires, stating:
“Grass, trees, bushes and gorse are still very dry. Take care if you are out exercising today, be fire aware.”
Image source: Dublin Fire Brigade Twitter
Warning that there is no excuse for disposable barbecues or camp fires with Covid-19 guidelines in place, the service added:
“Take cigarette butts home with you. The orange wildfire warning is still in place.”
This is the latest in a series of warnings and alerts issued by state bodies in recent days over the threat of gorse and forest fires across the country.