40 firefighters battle blaze in Carlow field

A CORN field in Busherstown went up in flames on the hottest day of the year on Saturday, taking over 40 firefighters hours to get it under control and extinguished.

The blaze took hold in a field near Bennekerry in the 30-degree heat at around 4.30pm on Saturday, bringing most of the county’s entire fire service to the scene. Forty-three firefighters battled the inferno until 9.30pm until it was deemed safe.

“We contained it to one field and managed to prevent it from spreading into other fields,” said Ger Griffin, acting senior assistant chief fire officer. “It was the ground conditions – they were ripe for the spread of fire.” 

 Firefighters from Hacketstown, Tullow, Bagenalstown and Carlow spent hours in the searing heat as they fought the blaze with four fire trucks and three water tankers. They were assisted by local farmers who dug trenches, known as fire breaks, to prevent it from spreading.

The blaze broke out following a warning from the Department of the Environment and Met Eireann about the dangers of fire because of the extreme heat and the dryness of the ground. It’s not known what caused the fire in the corn field.

“There were extremely difficult conditions to work in – 30 degrees plus the heat of the fire. It was a long time to wear a fire kit in that heat. It was very challenging, but it was a fantastic job done by our crews, assisted by the farmers. We’re very proud of them,” said Mr Griffin.