Youngsters and anti-social behaviour are behind a spate of fires around the county recently, it's claimed.
The fire service has dealt with 110 outdoor fires so far in the month of April.
While predominantly gorse fires, there are also many instances of bins being set alight and fires being started in fields and on scrubland.
Some of the areas affected in the past fortnight include Ferrybank, Tramore, the People's Park, the Riverwalk, Cheekpoint and the Mount Suir estate.
Last night (Wednesday) one unit from Tramore attended a large fire in a field beside the An Garaun estate just before half-past nine.
Local Sinn Fein Councillor Jim Griffin says it's a trend he wants to stop:
"One of the fires they (the Fire Service) had to attend last Saturday evening up in Mount Suir they were actually putting out two fires in the People's Park where the youngsters lit the bins..so it's a trend and one I'd like to see stopped. I'd like to see parents educating their kids and tell them the consequences of what they might think is harmless fun, because it could have devastating consequences."
The Chief Fire Officer for Waterford City and County Council Niall Curtin says while many of the fires are innocuous they can lead to bigger problems.
"That has occurred over the last month in a couple of instances where we had a delayed response to an incident that could have been life-threatening - thankfully we didn't have any serious outcomes in those instances - but it's an eye-opener that these fires which are totally unnecessary can have an impact in our society."
In other instances, roads have to be closed due to the effects of smoke on visibility. The Chief Fire officer said it's often very hard to pinpoint how fires are started, but he agreed with Cllr Griffin that they were linked in many cases to anti-social behaviour "younger people out and about setting fires".
Cllr Griffin says it can be very distressing for residents affected by these fires, particularly elderly people when confronted by thick black smoke, and appealed for those responsible to stop.
