A WILDFIRE IN Roscommon took almost twelve hours to bring until control yesterday, with crews battling the blaze until after dark.

Fire services were first alerted to the bogland fire outside Castlerea just after 3pm yesterday afternoon.

Three brigades - Ballaghaderreen, Castlerea and Ballyhaunis – attended the incident, with a total of 25 firefighters battling the blaze at its height across 250 acres of bogland.

One crew remained after midnight to ensure the fire didn’t spread to forestry or to areas close to houses.

Roscommon Chief Fire Officer John Kane praised the work of firefighers yesterday in containing the fire and keeping it away from mature forestry and homes.

“It was really brilliant work. Once a fire gets into a mature forest, that’s it. The financial cost is massive,” he told TheJournal.ie.

Kane said the conditions were “perfect”, with two years of grass growth “tinder dry”, with good sunshine and a light breeze. However, he said in most cases like this, there is “very little evidence” to suggest these fires are accidental.

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