Forest fires blazed across several counties yesterday, with emergency services battling some of the biggest such outbreaks seen in years.
The worst of the fires broke out in Wicklow, with much of the area around Sally Gap on fire or under a blanket of smoke.
Firefighting crews from Wicklow, the Army, Civil Defence and Coillte Teoranta were expected to work throughout the night to contain a fire which started in the centre of a Dúchas pine plantation and raged from the Sally Gap to near Blessington.
Coillte Teoranta called in its contracted helicopter to carry out a "water bombing" along the worst-affected areas.
"We called in the helicopter to have it on standby but we didn't think we'd need to use it so soon," said Coillte Teoranta district manager Mr Tom Lyng.
A Coillte crew of 16 men joined an estimated 60 firefighters as the blaze threatened to approach residential areas.
Attempts to contain the fire were severely hampered by yesterday's strong winds which fanned the blaze.
Wicklow gardaí closed all the roads around the Sally Gap as a safety precaution when the fire crossed a public road.
A herd of about 50 deer living in the plantation were also under threat last night. "It's heartbreaking to see so much destroyed after so many years of growth," said Mr Lyng.
"It's been crazy all day here. People are ringing in, panicking that the fires are getting close to homes," said a Wicklow fire officer.
Dublin Fire Brigade was in a state of "bedlam" dealing with gorse fires in south Dublin yesterday.
Fire engines from Nutgrove, Tallaght, Donnybrook and Dún Laoghaire were kept going all day trying to deal with small fires which broke out in parks and gardens. The west was also affected by tinderbox conditions, which set gorse and forest fires ablaze in parts of Sligo, Clare, Limerick, Cork and Kerry.
In Sligo, a fire broke out near the West Of Ireland Championship at Rosses Point golf course and another at Rhue Forest in Tubbercurry.
Mid-West fire services were fighting at least six fires yesterday. Forest fires in Co Clare broke out at Kilmaley and Carncreagh with a third fire breaking out at a bog in Tulla.
A fire was reported in Cobh, Co Cork, and in Kenmare, Co Kerry firefighters were called out to a bush fire at Gortamullin.