DESPITE ASSURANCES from fire chiefs, some householders close to a major forestry, bog and gorse fire outbreak in north Mayo were still fearful last night that the fire could spread in their direction.
Mary Irvine, who lives with her husband Philip in the townland of Gorthleatilla, Glenamoy, said they wouldn’t sleep until the fire, which has been raging for more than three days, has been fully extinguished.
“It is an awful ordeal,” Ms Irvine commented. “About seven neighbouring houses are threatened. Some 40 local people have been working around the clock to try and stop the fire spreading.”
Mayo Chief Fire Officer Séamus Murphy said yesterday evening he was confident that a fire-break which had been created over some 200 metres between woodland and a number of homes in the area would ensure the safety of the properties.
Mr Murphy said: “There is rain predicted and it is quite close to us. When that rain falls it will greatly help the situation.”
Mr Murphy said the inaccessibility and roughness of the terrain in an area where there was a large quantity of cutaway forest had hampered fire-fighting efforts.
A helicopter requisitioned by Coillte assisted the fire-fighting effort again yesterday, sucking thousands of gallons of water from nearby lakes and dumping them where flames were highest.
Fire units from Belmullet and Crossmolina have been working on a rotation basis to quell the outbreak.
Coillte district manager Gerry Gavin said yesterday evening that the main fire had been extinguished and any threat to houses had been removed.
Mr Gavin estimated that about 66 hectares, including 150 acres of young trees, had been destroyed as well as patches of mature forest.
“It’s a dampening down operation from here on,” he said. “The rain which has been forecast would greatly help us.”
The cause of the major outbreak, which started about mid-afternoon on Monday and has also consumed a number of private plantations, isn’t known.