CHIEF Fire Officer for Donegal County Council, Joseph McTaggart has said call outs to incidents such as the gorse fire in Gaoth Dobhair recently will lead to the fire service not being available in a life or death situation. 

 

Five units from Dungloe, Gaoth Dobhair, Falcarragh and Letterkenny spent nine hours recently battling the blaze that spanned over 30 acres in Cnoc Fola. 

 

A forest beside the community centre in Bloody Foreland was partially destroyed but the fire service prevented the entire woodland from going up.

 

Mr Taggart said the fire crossed over a road and was 30 metres from a home but luckily the firefighters prevented further disaster.

 

“There are a number of issues here, one – wildfires cause damage to the wildlife habitat and cause loss of life to the wildlife,” said Mr McTaggart.

 

“It also puts a cost on the County Council. When the fire brigade responds it has to be paid for.

 

“The most important issue is that when the fire brigade is tied up with incidents like this they are not immediately available for life critical incidents. 

 

“It is not a matter of if there will be a loss of life it is a matter of when.”

 

 

Mr McTaggart said he could not say what the cause of the fire was as their statutory function is to extinguish the fire rather than investigate it.

 

According to Donegal County Council there has been a large number of gorse fires in the county in recent years. 

 

“Over the last few years firefighters from Donegal Fire Services have attended a large number of gorse fires each year, and an alarming percentage of these fires are started deliberately,” a spokesperson said. 

 

“Gorse fires are at their most devastating during periods of hot and sunny weather when the grass and undergrowth is particularly dry. Fire can travel through gorse and dry undergrowth at astounding speed.”