LONDON — Firefighters in Northern Ireland were mopping up after a significant fire swept through forest land in the southeastern corner of the province overnight as concerns grow about unseasonably warm, dry weather across the United Kingdom.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident at 11:53 p.m. Saturday and more than 100 firefighters and 14 pieces of equipment were deployed in a rural area outside the community of Hilltown. The blaze was under control by the early hours of Sunday.
The fire is believed to have been deliberately started, the fire service said. Authorities in Northern Ireland on March 28 decried a recent spate of deliberately set wildfires across the region.
“People lighting these fires may be putting their own and others’ lives at risk including the fire service personnel and other emergency services tasked to deal with them,” Andrew Muir, minister for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, said in a statement.
Firefighters across the U.K. are on alert this weekend due to the increased risk of fires following a spate of warm spring weather.
Police in Scotland advised people to avoid the Loch Down area of East Ayrshire because of a wildfire burning in the southwestern part of Scotland.
A number of fires were also burning on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, southwestern England. Devon and Cornwall police advised travelers to avoid the area as they have closed a number of roads in the Bolventor area to assist firefighters.
