About 100 firefighters battling Mourne Mountains blazes

Firefighting operations in the Mourne Mountains are expected to "continue across the week", the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) have said.

Firefighters continue to tackle wildfires in the Ballagh Road, Newcastle, and Sandbank Road, Hilltown, areas of the mountains.

There have been about 95 firefighters in attendance at both incidents and the fire service have reiterated their appeal for the public to avoid these areas.

Some residents told BBC News NI earlier they had been told they may have to leave their homes.

Resident April McCarthy said she had been told to get her bag ready in case her home needed to be evacuated.

"I've been packing a couple of bags, trying to get everything precious like photographs - it's difficult to do that quickly. You don't expect it to come to your door," she told BBC Newsline reporter Julie McCullough.

"It's been building up but it finally moved over here and I don't think we've ever seen it this bad," she added

Local farmer and conservationist Andrew Baird said at about lunchtime the smoke was so thick he could not see out of his back door.

"It was very heavy. I said: 'This fire is within the forest and we need to get it put out as there is a house within the forest.'"

At the scene, BBC News NI reporter Julie McCullough

These latest fires are spread right around the mountain, and are closer to the village of Annalong.

It's spread to a little place called Glassdrumman, and is focused in an area called Spence's Mountain.

I've been here since the afternoon, and it's been a pretty frightening picture.

There have been flames rising right into the air, and the fire has spread from that low gorse ground on the side of the mountain, right into a wooded area, which has made the fire trickier for the Fire and Rescue Service to tackle.

Also, it's in a remote area, but it's close to a number of properties and it is a very worrying time for people in this area.

The fire service said that firefighters have responded to a number of other smaller wildfires in Belfast, Armagh, Lurgan and Rathfriland.

"As the weather warning for wildfires remains in place, NIFRS is reminding the public to stay vigilant to the risk of fire in the countryside. If you see a fire, call 999 immediately."

Earlier on Monday, a Mourne Mountain Rescue team co-ordinator said the challenge with recurring wildfires is that "there are no consequences" for those responsible.

Martin McMullan said the fires in the mountains at the weekend "definitely didn't look like they started from a recreational source".

"The areas where they started were almost inaccessible to the general public. This happens year after year... and there's no consequences for those that are undertaking these actions," McMullan said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, McMullan said, from his point of view on Monday morning in Newcastle, the wildfires on the eastern side of the Mournes seemed to have "died down".

"But that's not to say the fires in the western Mournes aren't still smouldering," he said.

"Fires like that at this time of the year can continue to burn for quite a period of time.

"They don't just burn on the surface, they also burn into the ground. So it's quite unpredictable in that sense."

McMullan said the fires at the weekend "spread quite quickly with a certain level of ferocity" due to there not being any significant fires in that particular area - so there was a lot of gorse and heather.

"The big risk was that they spread, one of them in particular spread down towards properties along the Coast Road and then in towards Donard Forest in Newcastle."

He said that one of the caravan parks had to be evacuated while people were asked to avoid the area.

PSNI Local South Down Neighbourhood Inspector Paddy Heatley said deliberately setting a wildfire is a criminal offence for which you can face prosecution.

"Where it is found that a wildfire has been maliciously started, it will be fully investigated by police, and when identified those responsible can expect to be arrested and brought before court," he said.

"At this time, it is not possible to ascribe a definitive cause to individual fires which broke out over the weekend given the complexity of the fires and of the emergency service response operation.

"Police will however gather all available evidence to enable us to identify any action which would constitute a crime, and hold those responsible legally to account."

Stormont's Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir said the impact of the wildfires "is real and significant, with lives potentially at risk, communities in fear and natural habitats destroyed".

Muir added that "rural arson is a crime" and that if anyone has any "information on those deliberately lighting malicious fires in our countryside" they should contact the police.

Forever Mournes, a partnership aimed at protecting and restoring the mountains, said it was deeply concerned.

"Fires can destroy vast areas of the mountain, leaving visible scars and disrupting the delicate balance of nature," it said in a statement.

"However, the impact on wildlife is immediate and long-term.

"Evidence from previous fires shows that even years later, biodiversity can remain significantly reduced, with dramatic declines in insect populations that are vital to the wider ecosystem.

"The Mournes also provide drinking water for much of Northern Ireland, and livelihoods for farmers and tourism providers which can all be impacted by fires."

A new wildfire action plan, external, published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs (Daera) earlier in April set out a coordinated response to what officials describe as a growing threat.

It includes dozens of measures aimed at improving resilience and reducing the frequency and severity of fires.