It has barely rained for weeks, the ground is parched and there has been a succession of fire danger notices, but these did not stop someone dumping and setting alight a pile of tyres and scrap on a Co Wicklow hillside.
Aidan Dempsey, Wicklow’s chief fire officer, said it was the kind of madness he and his crews have seen too often this summer.
“Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon in the last few weeks. People must be aware of the risks, but they choose to ignore it,” he said.
The fire on Ballyremon Commons, between Kilmacanogue and Roundwood, could be spotted from kilometres away as thick black smoke spiralled into the sky on Monday morning.
RM Block
It was confined to a small patch of ground where sheep and deer graze among the gorse and heathers, but on a hotter day, if the smattering of Sunday showers had not slightly dampened the vegetation, it could have spread quickly.
The fire crew called to the scene could not get their truck close to the blaze and had to use shovels and hoses attached to backpacks of water to tackle it.
Car wheels were the main item dumped along with other things too burnt to identify.
“Whether it’s hillwalkers’ campfires up in the mountain or people burning rubbish, Ballyremon Commons would be one of the busiest locations for us,” Dempsey said.
The evidence is all too visible. Swathes of gorse are blackened from earlier fires, and two smaller sites are still smoking, one containing the charred bones of a small animal.
“Because it’s commonage, it’s quite open. There are several access points into it and it makes it difficult to identify who is responsible,” Dempsey said. “We’re working closely with Coillte and the National Parks & Wildlife Service and they’re using drones to try and gather information, but it’s difficult to connect a fire with an individual person.”
A man driving from Roundwood, who also saw the smoke and came to investigate, confirmed there were quite often fires in the area. He did not want to give his name, but shook his head in annoyance at the scene.
“This isn’t the gorse fires farmers get blamed for. This is people dumping rubbish and setting fire to it knowing well they’re not going to get caught,” he said.
Dumping is clearly an issue. Where the track from the main road gives way to rough ground, someone has left a bath, cardboard and other rubbish.
Dempsey struggled to understand the behaviour behind this latest fire.
“They could have dumped it and not set it on fire, not that you want them dumping ... But there were full wheels in that fire – they could have got something for it if they’d brought it to a scrap yard.”
