Road halted raging fires
A WOMAN living in the Mourne Mountains has told how her home was saved from a raging 40ft-high gorse blaze by a road acting as a fire break.
She was speaking after hundreds of acres of land were destroyed, and homes and livestock threatened by fires which burned across five counties for much of the bank holiday weekend, putting “unprecedented” demand on the fire service.
“We could see the fire from our bedroom window on Sunday night,” said Lynda McAtee, who lives a mile and a half east of Silent Valley in the Mourne Mountains.
“The flames were 30 or 40ft high and moving faster than anyone could run. You would not have stood a chance. A very stormy wind was blowing it in our direction but the Head Road stopped it from reaching the houses by acting as a fire break. But it is only a matter of time until someone loses their life.
“These were the highest flames I have ever seen from gorse fires.”
Police are investigating reports of a man with a petrol can close to a youth hostel in Rostrevor, Co Down, on Saturday evening and also of two youths lighting fires on Slieve Gullion Mountain, Co Armagh, on Sunday evening.
In Omagh, families had to flee their homes on Sunday evening because of gorse fires.
Police in the Co Tyrone town yesterday apprehended two youths aged 10 and 15 on suspicion of arson in the Aghnaghar Road area of Sixmilecross. A file is expected to be submitted to the Public Prosecution Service in due course.
Firefighters from 60 of Northern Ireland’s 68 stations have been attending gorse blazes in the Mournes, Rostrevor, Tyrone, Fermanagh, south Armagh, Divis Mountain in Belfast and at the Glenshane Pass.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said it is continuing to experience “an unprecedented period of operational activity” due to gorse fires across the province.
NIFRS assistant chief fire officer Dale Ashford yesterday said that in 24 hours they had received 927 calls and mobilised fire appliances to a total of 376 incidents.
“Gorse and grassland fires accounted for 194 of these and together with the continuing dry spell and windy conditions, NIFRS continues to be extremely busy,” he said.
PSNI assistant chief constable Gary White said: “The thought that individuals may be deliberately causing such destruction is very hard to comprehend.
“Not only are they putting livestock in danger and destroying the habitat of wildlife but, as seen in the necessary evacuations in Annalong and the Lenamore Road in Omagh, homes and therefore the lives of residents are being threatened.”
A fire on the Munie Road in Ballymena around 5pm on Friday is believed to have been deliberate, he said.
Firefighters were active in north Antrim over the weekend with gorse fires at Ballintoy, Ballinlea, Greenans, and on the mountain between Ballycastle and Cushendall.
Appliances from Coleraine, Portstewart, Portrush, Ballymoney, Ballycastle, Cushendall and Belfast tackled the blazes in an attempt to bring them under control.
The main A2 coast road was forced to close on Sunday due to the vast amount of smoke.
Ulster Unionist Newry and Armagh assembly candidate Danny Kennedy said: “I echo the calls of the fire and rescue service for people not to walk or camp on the hills of south Armagh or the Mournes over the coming days. Many people are distressed at the widespread devastation of vast areas of beautiful landscape in both south Armagh and the Mournes area.”
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
