AN EXTENSIVE gorse fire in the Galway suburb of Knocknacarra at the weekend threatened a number of homes.
The fire broke out at Ballymoneen on Saturday afternoon.
Several units of Galway Fire Brigade spent hours bringing it under control. They were assisted by gardaí. At one point, the blaze was close to fencing behind houses in the Ard Fraoigh estate off Clybaun Road, and firefighters had to clear an overgrown fire break.
Last week Minister of State for Agriculture Shane McEntee warned of the risk of forest and gorse fires during the dry spell forecast by Met Éireann.
“Setting fire to growing vegetation at this time of year is not only an extremely dangerous practice, it is also illegal,” Mr McEntee said.
He paid tribute to the emergency services for their “relentless efforts”,
For information on fire prevention and forest protection see agriculture.gov.ie