DRAMATIC videos have captured the scenes as wild fire ripped through gorse in rural West of Ireland areas over the weekend.
Fire and Rescue teams in Co. Galway were called to two areas of the Gaelteacht, Toureen yesterday and Baile na hAbhainn on Saturday, March 25 as they were engulfed by wildfire.
Although the Toureen and Baile na hAbhainn fires were captured on video, fire services also attended blazes in Loughrea, Clifton, Costello Connemara, Tuam, and Gort.
Thank you to Galway Fire and Rescue for their difficult work last night in tackling the gorse fires and preventing spread to homes. pic.twitter.com/H3jJIMRTNm
— Enda Cunningham (@endacunningham) March 26, 2017
Galway Bay FM reported that although all fires have been "brought under control" this morning the fire service has asked people in the county to "desist from burning scrub" during good weather as it's "putting undue pressure on fire fighters."
The Electricity Supply Board, ESB, are also working to repair damage to the power lines sustained in the fires.
Between March and August every year it is illegal to burn upland as drier weather can cause fires to spread through gorse, a yellow flowering plant that grows wild, quicker.
.@ESBNetworks working to repair powerlines & equipment damaged by gorse fires overnight. (Photos: Eoin Ó Fatharta) pic.twitter.com/tpUmwPcnC3
— Enda Cunningham (@endacunningham) March 26, 2017
In the footage captured from Baile na hAbhainn by Luke Lyon and shared by Fire Ireland on Saturday, the major gorse fire can be seen raging across the horizon as fire crews battle to stop it.
The following evening in Toureen, Mark Lydon captured up-close footage of the extensive flames and billowing smoke across land as the fire service tried again to keep this gorse fire under control.
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