FIRE CREWS HAVE returned to battle a mountain blaze in County Tipperary this morning.

Tipperary Fire and Rescue Service had made the decision to stand down active firefighting operations at the Slievenamon outside Clonmel in Co Tipperary overnight for crew safety.

According to the Fire and Rescue service ‘’The decision to stand down firefighting operations was made due to the challenges posed by darkness, difficult terrain, and limited scope for effective intervention.

Emergency services maintained a presence in the area throughout the night to monitor the situation and respond as necessary’’.

The Fire Service say that at this stage, there is no expectation that residential properties will be impacted by the fire.

The operational response will be reviewed early tomorrow morning, including consultation with partner agencies and utilisation of aerial support information.

The added ‘’Public safety advice remains in place for residents affected by smoke – keep windows and doors closed, especially for those with respiratory conditions.

The public is urged to avoid unnecessary travel to the area to allow emergency services access to the site.

It is understood the fire was first reported to the emergency services around 8.45am on Monday 20 July with fire tenders from Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir sent to the scene of the blaze.

Plumes of smoke were still billowing from the blaze last night. The Fire Service said it was premature to comment on the cause of the fire, the extent of the damage or the full scale of the response operation as the incident is ongoing.

Local TD for South Tipperary Michael Murphy (FG) has said “local residents need to keep doors and windows closed”.

He said these were “very worrying times for people in Killurney, Killusty and Ballypatrick” but that Tipperary County Council are “very hopeful” no properties will be damaged.

The mountain which is 721 metres high is steeped in folklore and is associated with Fionn mac Cumhaill.

A number of wildfires have broken out across the country in the last week, during the dry weather spell.

Fire services have spent days battling a blaze at Killarney National Park which was reported last Tuesday.

Another fire was reported near Milltownpass in Co Westmeath causing the closure of a section of the M6 motorway for a time.