SHARING OPTIONS:
The blaze was close to a Coillte forest, as well as a number of private dwellings. \ Ellen Devitt Durkin
Farmers have been called on to cease setting illegal fires as the open period for burning gorse has now ended.
Approximately 50ha of uplands were destroyed in a blaze that spread rapidly across Scarr Mountain in Co Wicklow, overlooking Lough Dan on Sunday, 7 March.
Areas of the Slieve Bloom Mountains in Co Laois were also damaged on the same day by a wildfire.
Speaking at the site of the blaze in Wicklow, Minister of the State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan stated that such events are a “massive draw on emergency services”.