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There were fears for property, forestry and wildlife when a large hill fire tore through the Lough Dan area in Co Wicklow on Sunday night.
Local residents closed windows against the smoke and ash fell like snow as various units from the Wicklow Fire Brigade, Wicklow National Park staff and locals tackled the blaze.
The fire is believed to have started around 6 p.m. Sunday in an area of the Wicklow Mountains National Park, a little west of Lough Dan. Within hours it had spread over a wide area, threatening homes in Shinnagh Lane, according to eyewitnesses. The fire also spread in an area between Brown Mountain and Lough Dan and when night fell the forestation called Barton’s Wood was approaching.
David Butler of Adventure Safety Ireland said he had seen the fire spread through gorse and heather in open country near Scar Mountain, but also near Coillte forestry and several private residences. He said the smoke had spread several kilometers.
The fire broke out in a grazing area within the National Park, but outside of the closed burning season that ended in late February.
Wesley Atkinson of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, who was also at the scene, said workers were lucky there was no wind. He said the fire had covered a wide area and there would be a loss of wildlife, but said that by 10 p.m. the fire was under control. He said that as the fire got higher, there were more heather than gorse and this didn’t burn as fast.
“We will have to see it in the morning light,” he said.
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