Firefighters tackling gorse fire in Maghera

Firefighters are currently tackling a gorse fire in Maghera, County Londonderry.

There are currently ten fire appliances and 33 firefighters in attendance on the Glenshane Road.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said its staff attended 49 wildfires on Friday.

It added that they “continued to respond to a number of other emergency incidents across the night”.

NIFRS western area commander David Doherty said they were dealing with a “large fire stretching over two miles with four fire fronts”.

He added that the fire was about “a mile up the mountain with no vehicular access, so it’s a particularly complicated incident for us to tackle”.

He described it as “developing” and said “it may be escalated in the coming hours”.

“It’s a dynamic situation currently,” he said.

Mr Doherty said it had been “an extremely busy” week for the fire service.

“I’ve just come from the far side of Lisnaskea, 70 miles away, from another incident, as have many of the crews,” he said.

“It’s not just this incident. There are various incidents ongoing.

“It’s very tough on our resources and our firefighters have been pushed to the limits.

“It’s been pushing one of the busiest weeks we’ve had.”

The NIFRS said: “With the weather warning still in place, we are appealing to the public to adhere to our fire safety advice.

“Please stay vigilant to fire in the countryside. If you see a fire, call 999.”

Firefighters are also continuing to tackle a gorse fire in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh.

On Friday, the fire service confirmed its staff attended 1,112 incidents from Thursday 3 April to Thursday 10 April, 296 of which were wildfires.

They said many were started deliberately.