Several fire service units from Killarney and surrounding towns in Co Kerry are battling a large wildfire in the Five Mile Bridge/Moll’s Gap area of the Killarney National Park.
Helicopters from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) were dispatched to the scene. Two later arrived to help protect some of the oldest oakwoods in Europe.
The area was devastated in April 2021 and the oakwoods narrowly avoided serious damage.
The fire spread along a wide area on Tuesday evening and concern was mounting due to strengthening winds in the Muckross/Killarney area.
Kerry County Council closed the main N71 Killarney to Kenmare road between the major tourist destinations of Moll’s Gap and Muckross House. The public were told to avoid the area entirely with alternative routes advised.
The fire was visible on Tuesday evening from the Killarney Racecourse where the July race meeting is under way.
There has been vigilance by theNPWS during the dry spell and warning signs have gone up around the park of the risks of barbecues and cigarettes to the dry underbrush.
There are fears locally that unless it is contained, Killarney could face a repeat of the April fires of 2021 that affected much of the same area
A report on that fire and its causes has yet to be published but is being finalised.