Firefighters extinguish gorse fire near Donemana

Firefighters have put out a gorse fire on a mountain bordering counties Londonderry and Tyrone.

The fire service was called to the blaze at Slievekirk near Donemana at around 00:20 BST on Wednesday.

Nine fire appliances and crews from Derry, Maghera, Ballymoney, Dungiven and Ballycastle attended the scene of the fire which covered one hectare of gorse.

The incident was declared over at 10:55 BST, the Northern Ireland Fire Service (NIFRS) said.

“Firefighters used five beaters and two knapsack sprayers to extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire is believed to have been deliberate ignition,” the NIFRS said.

It is the latest in a series of wildfires across Northern Ireland.

On Tuesday Environment Minister Andrew Muir told the Northern Ireland Assembly that it is “only by the grace of God that nobody has been killed” by the recent spate of fires.

Crews tackled more than 70 fires over one weekend in April across Northern Ireland.

“We need a different attitude to the wildfires, which are having a devastating impact on our countryside,” Muir said

He added: “It is very distressing to see the damage that we have caused to our countryside.”

Speaking last month, NIFRS Western area commander David Doherty said the majority of the wildfires had been started deliberately and appealed to the public to report anyone starting fires.

He warned the fire service had been pushed to “its absolute limits” by the number of wildfires across Northern Ireland.