Galway fire services and Coillte forestry staff are still battling to quench a number of gorse fires which have caused extensive damage to thousands of acres of bog and woodland over the past week.
Up to 1,000 acres of forestry has been reportedly destroyed in Connemara, while five families had to be evacuated temporarily from housing late last night.
A fire which broke out on bogland at Attycunnane beween Belmullet and Bangor Erris in north Mayo early this morning has been brought under control.
The blaze forced closure of the main road linking Belmullet and Bangor Erris, some miles from the Shell Corrib gas terminal in Erris.
Gardai in Galway said that they had not been asked so far to investigate the cause of gorse and forestry fires in Connemara over the past week.
The fires in several areas between Clifden, Oughterard and Letterfrack, and close to Moycullen, are estimated to have cost Coillte, the forestry agency, a six figure sum.
At one point helicopters had to be deployed to fight the blaze south of Oughterard. Coillte estimates the coast at about €5,000 a hectare.
A Garda spokesman said they had received no report to date that any fire was deliberately started during the current extended spell of dry warm weather.
“We have been working with the regional chief fire officer to ensure housing is safe.”
For this reason, up to five families were asked to leave their houses on the Spiddal-Moycullen road late on Thursday as a precautionary measure. The families were able to return later.
The Mayo Fire Service has appealed to landowners and others in the area not to start fires on their own land. A number of minor fires were reported between Tuam in north Galway and Kinvara in south Galway today. A house fire was also reported in the Grattan road area of the city.
