Fire brigade battle gorse fires on Howth Head

Dublin Fire Brigade spent a number of hours this evening bringing two gorse fires near the summit of Howth Head in Co Dublin under control.

Four pumps and a water tanker were at the scene just before 6pm. A spokesman for Dublin Fire Brigade said the job of battling the blaze had been complicated by the absence of an adequate water supply. “As always, water supply is a problem,” he said.

“We are basically relaying water, filling the pump, using it, and filling it again - because there isn’t a running water supply up there that we can access. There are houses up there but they are isolated so there isn’t an adequate supply.”

He said some houses may have been at risk earlier in the evening but this threat had passed. The priority when fires such as these break out, he said, was domestic dwellings, infrastructure, and items of natural value.

“There are some flora and fauna up there that are worth protecting,” he said. “I’m told there were some rare rhododendrons under threat earlier on but that was about the extent of it.”

Fires of this nature are not uncommon during periods of dry weather, the spokesman added. “It’s a gorse fire - with this kind of weather they’re likely to break out - we’d expect it in places like Howth and Killiney.

“They are dealing with fire on two fronts up there. The officer in charge at the scene has told me he is basically dealing with two separate fires - but they are fairly close to each other and it’s a relatively constricted area.”