Public warned to stay off as firefighters tackling massive gorse fire off rural Co Antrim road

The fire broke out on Ballymoney’s Lisboy Road at around 4pm today (4th); at its worst, 51 firefighters were on scene to handle the blaze, while the public were warned to avoid the area.

But shortly before 8.30pm, the NIFRS announced they were scaling back their operations from seven fire appliances plus several specialist vehicles to two appliances and one specialist vehicle, which a spokesperson said will be on Lisboy Road for a number of hours.

The warning for the public to stay away from the area remains in place.

The gorse fire was stated to be “approximately 10 acres with a fire front of 200 metres”.

When the blaze was at its height, firefighters from Ballymoney, Ballymena, Ballycastle, Coleraine and Maghera Fire Stations all raced to the scene, along with a Command Support Unit and other specialist vehicles.

It’s the latest in a series of wildfires that have hit Northern Ireland over the last weeks, which Stormont minister Andrew Muir has said are having a "devastating impact" on the province’s environment and wildlife.

The cause of the current emergency isn’t yet known; many of the previous blazes were lit deliberately, but this week’s hot and sunny weather saw the Met Office warn of an increased risk of gorse fires.

Speaking in the aftermath of a huge blaze on Slieve Binnian in the Mourne mountains in the middle of last week, Mr Muir said he is “extremely concerned by the recent spate of wildfires”.