Up to 12 Laois firefighters are currently dealing with a bog fire at Togher, on the outskirts of Portlaoise.
The fire broke out today as a ‘Condition Red Extreme’ warning was issued, warning people about the dangers of fires on bogs and land.
“Under extreme rire risk conditions any ignition source in hazardous fuels will give rise to rapid and unpredictable wildfire development and spread. Under these conditions, in upland situations fire can be expected to cover extensive areas and pose extreme difficulties to suppression efforts and may potentially likely give rise to Major Emergency scenarios,” the warning read.
Fire officer Anthony Tynan said he was aware of another bog fire locally at the same time as the one in Togher.
“We issued an alert this week asking people not to light fires on land. The weather at the moment is as good as it gets for lighting fires,” he said.
“Trees are dry and there is low humidity,” he said.
Extreme
The issuing of Condition Red Extreme fire risk warnings is a comparatively rare event and implies that recipients should take immediate action to protect resources and property.
According to the warning, such action may involve the mobilisation, assembly and prepositioning of resources such as water tankers, machinery, personnel and contract aviation support in high risk areas.
Fires spread easily and rapidly at this time of year in such conditions and can quickly get out of control.
On a day of strong winds, such as today, a fire can spread over an area of land in a matter of minutes
Landowners have been requested not to light any fires on their land.
Smokers are also urged to take care when extinguishing cigarettes as dry gorse and heather can light very easily in the current conditions.
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