The chief executive of Coillte says it will launch an annual public campaign each April to warn that the deliberate burning of gorse can lead to forest fire "beasts".
The announcement follows this week’s huge inferno on Coillte’s lands adjacent to the Cloosh Valley windfarm in Co Galway.
Fergal Leamy, who joined the State forestry agency two years ago, said that at one point on Tuesday afternoon he feared the Cloosh Valley fire could engulf the new €300 million windfarm, which is being built as a joint venture between Coillte and the Airtricity owner, SSE.
“At one stage on Tuesday, the fire moved 300 metres in two hours. It got to within 200 metres of the turbines, so, yes, I thought the windfarm was in real danger.”
Mr Leamy said he was more concerned, however, for the lives of the Coillte staff and members of the emergency services fighting the fire at Ireland’s largest forest.
“It was almost too dangerous to fight. The biggest danger to the windfarm was that the heat would destroy the electrics. But more importantly, people’s lives were in real danger. These fires are real beasts.”
Control
He said 1,500 acres of Coillte forest were lost in the fire, which is now under control.
“There is a risk is it could flare up again because there is no rain forecast until Saturday or Sunday.”
In recent days, Coillte has paid for two helicopters, at a cost of €1,800 per hour each, to douse the lands with water. One of those helicopters remained on site on Thursday, in an effort to prevent it flaring up again.
Mr Leamy said the total cost to Coillte of the Cloosh fire would be between €3 million and €4 million, including up to €1 million in direct fire-fighting costs.
The Air Corps also provided significant air support to fight the fire, in addition to the emergency services on the ground.
Coillte believes the Cloosh fire, one of scores that erupted on Coillte’s lands around the State since last weekend, was started deliberately. It is illegal to burn gorse between April and September.
“I firmly believe that if anyone knew a gorse fire would lead to what happened at Cloosh, they would never have started it. But from last Thursday to Monday, we had 30 fires on our lands. Since we started talking about this in the media on Monday, we have had just one more.”
Joint campaign
He said Coillte is in talks with the Department of Agriculture about launching a joint public warning campaign each April.
"I have spoken with [Minister] Michael Creed about it and it is in all our interests to prevent these fires in future with a joint campaign."
Meanwhile, the HSE has advised people living in areas affected by recent gorse fires to avoid spending prolonged periods of time outdoors.
“Smoke levels will change depending on wind conditions, so please use personal judgment.”
The seriousness of the fires has been attributed to a prolonged dry spell since the beginning of April, with average rainfall at 25 per cent of normal levels for this time of year. More than 100 gorse fires have been detected across the State in recent weeks.
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed also said on Thursday that people were illegally burning foliage at the moment and this was leading to out-of-control fires.
Landowners and the public were warned this week it is illegal to burn any vegetation growing on land during certain periods.
Anybody found burning vegetation between March 1st and August 31st is liable for prosecution by gardaí.
