Firefighters from across Co Down and neighbouring Co Armagh are tackling a series of fires in the Mourne mountains that emergency services believe were started deliberately.
The fire crews are fighting fires at several locations, including Bloody Bridge, Annalong Forest, Silent Valley and at Spelga Dam near the source of the river Bann. Another blaze broke out near one of the area's largest caravan sites on the outskirts of Newcastle where there are about 400 caravans.
The blaze at Bonnies caravan site was brought under control early yesterday.
Firefighters have been tackling the fire at Annalong Forest since early on Sunday. They say they are hampered by the need to climb to the seat of the fire, sometimes taking up to an hour to arrive at the scene. Crews often have to try to beat out the flames.
Fourteen fire crews and up to 90 firefighters have been working to contain the outbreaks.
Senior fire officer Louis Jones said: "There is some evidence that some of these fires have been started deliberately. For that reason, I would appeal to people to be aware that the fire and rescue service serve all of the community. We need to be able to attend road traffic collisions and property fires as well as forest and gorse fires."
Tourists have been flocking to south Down over the holiday weekend. The emergency services say conditions on the Mournes are very dry. They add that two to three days of sustained wet weather are needed to reduce the risk of further fires.