Deer seeking somewhere to graze following fires at Killarney National Park in Co Kerry. Valerie O'Sullivan Valerie O'Sullivan

KILLARNEY NATIONAL PARK has said that staff are patrolling the area 24/7 along with drone operators and helicopter surveillance following a number of fires in the park in recent days. 

A photo of young deer seeking somewhere to graze amid the scorched ground highlights the damage caused by the fires, the most recent of which occurred two days ago. 

The park said the blaze happened in the Reenadinna Woodland on the Muckross Peninsula. It said the yew woodland is a very rare habitat and one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

Kerry Fire and Rescue Service crew and National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff attended the fire and managed to put it out quickly.

According to the national park, the fire was started by a disposable barbecue, which “quickly set part of a cliff alight”, damaging a variety of trees and ground flora. 

It was in an area where there is evidence of native red squirrels and many bird species, it added. 

Killarney National Park said the lighting of disposable barbecues and campfires is not permitted on its grounds. 

It also thanked members of the public  who raised the alarm after seeing a “plume of smoke” in the area.

“Early intervention is of the utmost importance in these situations and the more eyes and ears we have out there, the faster we can respond to a fire, the less damage that is caused to the National Park.”

The Department of Agriculture has said a condition Orange high fire risk warning will remain in place until 12pm on Monday, 14 April. 

It said that due to current weather patterns, a high fire risk “is deemed to exist in all areas where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and shrub fuels such as heather and gorse exist”.