Crews had to withdraw from tackling Mount Leinster fires last night over safety concerns

Fires set on Mount Leinster yesterday evening couldn’t even be tackled by the local fire service for safety reasons.

The acting fire chief in Carlow says his crews had to withdraw and let the blaze which covered several hundred metres burn out.

Liam Carroll has been telling KCLR Live its difficult terrain and work they shouldn’t have to be doing:

“We can’t run hoses or operate pumps in those kinds of conditions but it’s really a back-breaking labour where our crews have to get out and walk the mountains and then just manually extinguish the furries and fires,”.