1 day Ago By By The Newsroom
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. Officers in Newry, Mourne and Down have been carrying out additional patrols and are now asking the public to play their part in preventing further fires. With another weekend of dry and fine weather ahead, District Commander Superintendent Norman Haslett said: “Gorse fires can cause untold damage and in an area of outstanding natural beauty like the Mournes, this is particularly devastating, not to mention the risk to life and property that they pose.
Advertisement Advertisement "We have been implementing additional preventative patrolling in the area, deploying officers on vehicles like 4x4s, motorcycles and our quad bike which can access more remote areas. We have also been utilising Air Support to give us an aerial overview of the mountains. "Wildfires are completely avoidable and are more often than not, they are caused by human activity - whether this is through carelessness and inattention, or deliberate and malicious fire setting.
"They are devastating to the environment and ultimately risk the lives of people in the local area and those of the emergency services tasked to deal with them.” Deliberately setting a wildfire is a criminal offence for which those responsible can be prosecuted. Superintendent Haslett added: "We work closely with our colleagues in the Fire Service in dealing with these fires and where it is found that a fire has been maliciously set, it will be fully investigated and when identified, those responsible can expect to be arrested and brought before court.
“We ask the public to help us prevent wild fires by acting responsibly when in the Mournes, and if anyone has any information about criminal action linked to previous fires, please call us on 101 Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you..
