Total cost of forest and gorse fires set to rise above €7 million

The fires which hit various parts of the country earlier this month did €5 million worth of damage to State owned forests with a further €2.4 million worth of damage inflicted on privately owned forests.

By Hugh O'Connell Saturday 14 May 2011, 6:33 PM

May 14th 2011, 6:33 PM 825 Views 0 Comments

https://jrnl.ie/136605

Image: Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland

Image: Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland

THE TOTAL COST of damage caused by the forest and gorse fires that hit various parts of the country earlier this month will rise to around €7.4 million according to the latest figures.

Around 1,000 hectares of State owned forests administered by Coillte were destroyed by the fires that hit the counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo, Longford, Cavan, Roscommon, Offaly, Louth, Westmeath, Clare, Galway and Mayo.

This caused around €5 million worth of damage as was reported earlier this month.

However, on top of this 600 hectares of privately owned forests were destroyed with fire losses of approximately €2.4 million according to figures seen by TheJournal.ie.

Foul-play is suspected to have been behind a number of the fires but gardaí say that the matter is still under investigation and that no one has been charged in connection with the incidents.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has urged all rural dwellers to co-operate with the forest service and authorities investigating the incident as they look to determine the source of the fires and identify the culprits.

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Total cost of forest and gorse fires set to rise above €7 million