Detective Inspector Handley said, “A multi-agency operation was involved in bringing the huge fire under control, which the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) declared a major incident.
“While the cause of the fire is under investigation, NIFRS believe the blaze may have been started deliberately.
“And we are now working to establish the circumstances.
“It is believed the fire may have started off the main walkway along the Bloody Bridge path, possibly late on Thursday night, 22 April 2021.
“We want to hear from anyone who was in the area, and who may have information which could help our investigation, to get in touch with us,” he continued.
Major blaze on Mourne Mountains probably deliberate Firefighters tackle a large gorse fire in the Slieve Donard. Picture by Conor Kinahan/Pacemaker Press.. 26 April, 2021 08:34
Photo taken with permission from the Twitter feed of @PatrickCorrigan showing a huge gorse fire spreading across the Mourne Mountains in Co Down. The fire in the Slieve Donard area has been ongoing since the early hours of Friday morning, with up to 60 firefighters and 12 appliances battling the blaze. Issue date: Saturday April 24, 2021.
A MASSIVE firefighting operation to tackle a major blaze on the Mourne Mountains was scaled back yesterday after a three day battle to bring it under control.
BBC News
Published
image captionFirefighters have been working in challenging conditions on the mountainside in County Down
Significant progress has been made to control a major fire on Northern Ireland s highest mountain.
The Slieve Donard blaze has been brought under control and the operation scaled down after three days.
The gorse fire was declared a major incident on Saturday and there has been extensive damage to wildlife and the environment.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the fire is no longer considered a major incident.
Firefighters returned to the Bloody Bridge area of the mountains at first light on Sunday.
BBC News
Published
image captionFirefighters worked in challenging conditions on the mountainside in County Down
A blaze in the Mourne Mountains was probably a deliberate fire , according to a senior officer in the NI Fire and Rescue Service.
Significant progress has been made to control the major fire on Northern Ireland s highest mountain.
On Sunday the Slieve Donard blaze was brought under control and the operation scaled down after three days.
Area Commander Mark Smyth said that if the fire was deliberate, it made him angry . Whilst a fire that starts at 23:00/00:00 BST comes to our attention halfway up a mountain it s hard for me to say here today that that was accidental, he told the BBC s Good Morning Ulster programme on Monday.