Major Mountain fire at Slieve Gullion

The dangers posed by fire in the countryside is once again in the news with a major fire underway just across the Irish Sea from us in the Slieve Gullion area of South Armagh!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-44779829

Members of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are being assisted by helicopter support from the Irish Air Corps offered by the 26 County government.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tweeted:

“@IrishAirCorps helping Northern Ireland Fire Service with fire on Slieve Gullion. Latest example of how @dfpo and Air Corps are helping other agencies to keep communities safe. Approval granted following request from Northern Ireland. Air Corps on standby for others.”

It is understood that one of the helicopters is directly targeting the fire while the other is acting in an observation and coordination role.

Bernard Moffatt