Fire crews rushed to the scene of a massive gorse fire in the West Cork area of Schull on Sunday night.
The huge fire broke out on Mount Gabriel, a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula just north of Schull, with the alarm being raised just before 9pm following reports from locals of multiple fires all occurring at the same time.
Multiple units from a total of six different fire stations from around the area raced to the natural landmark after it caught fire with reports blaming the strong south-easterly winds as the reason for the fire getting out of control.
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Despite the large amount of smoke that spread across the large section of woodland, no homes or local buildings were in immediate danger of the blaze.
Reports have emerged that the blaze may have resulted in a gorse bush catching fire. As well as in Schull, gorse fires were also reported in Goleen, Bantry and in the Castletownbere areas of West Cork.
Many people took to social media to share images and videos of the inferno that engulfed the hill on Sunday night from different vantage points.
Currently, laws are in place to stop wildfires such as this. From March 1 to August 31 every year, it is an offence to burn any vegetation which was not been cultivated under Section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976.
This is not the first time that this has occurred. Six year’s ago in the area of Sheep's Head peninsula in County Cork a gorse fire broke out which needed two fire engines to tackle. This gorse fire occurred at the same time as one in Kerry.
In a statement to the Irish Mirror, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South West, and the party's spokesperson on Environment, Climate Action and Biodiversity, Christopher O'Sullivan, said: "I've seen the images from Schull last night and visited Schull and Ballydehob today. The fire was out of control and if intentional then it's completely irresponsible.
"County fire services are completely stretched as it is in responding to incidents. When they have to put themselves at risk dealing with hillside fires it means they can't respond to other emergencies. The strong winds were forecast, it was always going to be an issue."
Bantry-West Cork Fine Gael councillor Caroline Cronin said in a statement: "There is a relief in Schull that nobody was injured by these fires. Fortunately, the direction of the wind was not blowing the main fire towards settlements of homes nor was it burning up the mountain to the Irish Aviation navigational 'golf balls' at the top of the mountain.
"This is as big a fire that I have seen on Mount Gabriel and huge credit must go to the local team of Cork County Council fire crews. They worked through Sunday afternoon and Sunday night and were supplied with snacks throughout. Their dedication certainly prevented this from getting completely out of control and threatening human life.
"A very serious human life incident was luckily avoided. There is a black landscape over Mount Gabriel but thankfully there is not a dark cloud hanging over Schull If there was a loss of human."
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