A blaze which broke out on An Taisce land in the Sliabh Beagh area of North Monaghan on Sunday afternoon last was brought quickly under control by the crew of Monaghan Fire Service. Some two acres of ground in the Barratitoppy Upper area sustained scorch damage but the prompt action of fire personnel prevented the fire from spreading. The Department of Agriculture and the forestry authority Coillte recently appealed to the public to refrain from lighting fires in outdoor areas, pointing out that the period from now until September 1 was regarded as the most dangerous for outdoor fire outbreaks.
“An unextinguished barbecue, camp fire or burning of lands can be the start of a large and unintended blaze,” a Coillte spokesperson stated, urging the public not to light fires in the outdoors such as campfires and barbecues and reminding the public that it was an offence to burn vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated between March 1 and August 31. “About 99% of fire outbreaks we’ve seen were not caused by spontaneous combustion but instead were caused by unattended fires, or campfires that were not extinguished,” the spokesperson added.
