The Chief Fire Officer in Waterford is reminding people that it's illegal to have any type of burning outside at this time of the year.
An Orange Forest Fire warning remains in place until next week and areas with hazardous fuels, such as dead grass and gorse are particularly vulnerable.
We have issued an Orange Forest Fire warning for all areas where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and gorse exist⚠️⚠️
Warning is in place until Monday April 20🗓️
📍Full information https://t.co/ngCxjeFXmw pic.twitter.com/wI0tVIhq8z— Dept of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (@agriculture_ie) April 16, 2020
It comes as a gorse fire in the Wicklow Mountains is believed to have been started deliberately. Wicklow Fire Service, the Air Corps and Coillte have been battling the blaze in the Sally Gap area. It's thought it was started through illegal agricultural burning.
Niall Curtin is the Chief Fire Officer with Waterford City and County Council.
He says they've seen a couple of incidents in recent days of "controlled burning or burning of agricultural waste in the upland or mountainous areas".
"We would be asking farmers or other people using those lands to desist from any type of burning that's up there. It could also be the case that it's visitors to those areas that have been negligent and have set fires."
He says they're also seeing fires in urban areas.
"These are typically bushes, trees, grass fires in and around housing estates in our towns. They are illegal fires as well. There's no reason for these fires to happen that we're aware of.
"We would be urging anyone who is carrying out such activity or anyone who has control over people carrying out such activity to please and have it stopped immediately."
Niall Curtin says they're to do everything to keep their crews safe.
"In this COVID-19 pandemic, we're putting all sorts of measures in place to keep our fire brigades operational on the ground for as long as we possibly can and every time we have an event like this it is another risk factor for us."
He added that they're asking people to be cautious if they're out and about "not to light fires, to be careful with discarding cigarette ends but also be aware of your family members where they are and what they're doing". "If there are any family members involved in any activities leading to those types of fires to please try to stamp it out yourselves if at all possible.
Niall Curtain also reminded people that if they see any fire of they have any emergency please don't hesitate to dial 999 or 112. "Please use those numbers and no other numbers, they are the numbers that get the response there as quickly as possible. It's 999 or 112."
Call-out charges
The Chief Fire Officer says people deliberately setting fires outside could face the full cost of the call-out.
Niall Curtin says people may be sent a bill for the cost associated with the attendance of the fire brigade at that fire.
"We would be charging people per crew attending that incident. Sometimes these incidents are long, drawn-out and they can be difficult to access so the bill can be substantial."
