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18th May 2020

Fire brigade tackle major wildfire in Dublin Mountains overnight

Carl Kinsella

Dublin Mountains fire

A wildfire raged for hours in the Dublin mountains last night.

Dublin Fire Brigade spent hours bringing a wildfire in the Dublin Mountains under control yesterday and into the early hours of this morning (17/18 May).

The fire began near the Dublin Mountains’ iconic Hellfire Club before sunset on Sunday, at which time the fire brigade said: “We’re aware of the gorse wildfire at the Hellfire Club and have firefighters on scene. Two units from Rathfarnham and Tallaght fire stations are attending.”

However, the fire continued to spread, and more units were on the scene by midnight on Sunday night. Shortly before midnight, the organisation tweeted: “Firefighters have attended the gorse wildfire in the Dublin mountains and Coillte staff are on scene now too. At present it is heading towards a fire break.”

A “fire break” is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. At its worst, the fire was visible from many kilometres away.

In a separate tweet, the Dublin Fire Brigade specified that there was no evidence yet of any animals being injured by the gorse fire.

A Status Orange forest fire warning remains in place throughout the country.

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