On Saturday morning, a spokesperson for the service said: ““We are currently in attendance at a gorse fire in the vicinity of 974 Glenshane Road, Maghera.
“There are currently six fire appliances and 33 Firefighters in attendance and the incident remains ongoing.
“Firefighters continued to respond to a number of other emergency incidents across the night.
“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.”
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The update also revealed that 400 calls were made to the regional control room on Friday, with 49 of the 189 reports mobilised involving wildfires.
On Friday night, over 50 firefighters were called to a a significant gorse fire in the Sperrins area around Draperstown
Earlier that day, firefighters tackled five known incidents, including two in Enniskillen, another incident in Co Armagh and a blaze in Dungannon.
Three fire appliances were also in attendance at a fire in the Friary Road area of Newtownhamilton.
The two incidents in Enniskillen included a wildfire in the Cuilcagh Mountain area and a grass fire in the Station Road area.
Another incident took place in The Street area between Portadown and Tandrage432
Firefighters also attended a blaze in Co Tyrone outside Pomeroy attending the fire in the Tursallagh Road.
It comes after an extremely busy week for the Fire Service which has tackled hundreds of fires across the country.
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NIFRS have shared safety advice to prevent further outbreaks, including:
– Avoiding the use of open fires in the countryside as they can easily get out of control.
– Extinguish cigarettes and other smoking materials properly and don’t throw cigarette ends on the ground or out of car windows.
– Only use barbeques in a suitable area and never leave them unattended, while making sure they are fully extinguished and cold before disposing of their contents.
– Don’t leave bottles or glass in woodland or grassland
– Be considerate in parking so as not to prevent access for emergency vehicles.
– Keep children away from lighters, matches and open fires.
– Don’t attempt to tackle fires that can’t be extinguished with a bucket of water and leave the area as quickly as possible.
– Any fires spotted in the countryside should be reported immediately to NIFRS by calling 999.
– Anyone spotted lighting fires should also be reported to the PSNI.
The fire on the Glenshane Road in Maghera. Picture: BBC
Watch: Firefighters tackle ongoing Co. Down wildfire