Friday 11 April 2025
Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) has spent the past week battling wildfires across Northern Ireland. From Thursday 3 April – Thursday 10 April, NIFRS received 2,014 emergency calls and attended 1,112 incidents, with 296 of these being wildfire incidents.
As the weather warning for wildfires remains in place, NIFRS is reminding the public to stay vigilant to the risk of fire in the countryside.
NIFRS Chief Fire & Rescue Officer Aidan Jennings said:
“Many of the incidents our Service has responded to in the last 7 days have been significant, with one wildfire declared as a major incident and multiple others occurring simultaneously. This, coupled with the many other fire and special service emergency calls we have received, has created a challenge for us in maintaining normal service delivery.
“The impact has been felt right across our Service with everyone playing their part in our response. I want to commend our Firefighters for their exceptional work in tackling the wildfires in these extremely challenging and exhausting conditions. Our On-Call Firefighters have been remarkable and I want to thank them, their employers and their families for their support and understanding at this time.
“I also want to pay tribute to our control room operators who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to support the operational response and maintain normal service delivery, along with many support employees across the organisation. Our collaborative approach has been an outstanding representation of our One Team ethos at NIFRS.”
“As ever the support of many partner agencies has been invaluable over the last week and I would like to thank them and acknowledge the efforts of all their teams.”
“Finally, I would like to thank the public for supporting us during this critical time. I again want to reassure the public that our contingency plans remain in place and we will continue to respond should you need us in an emergency. However, with a weather warning still in place, I am reiterating our appeal to adhere to our fire safety advice. Please act safely over the coming days and stay vigilant to fire in the countryside.”
Please adhere to the following advice to prevent fires in the countryside:
- Avoid using open fires in the countryside. An open fire 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 and safe area and never leave them unattended.
- Ensure barbeques are fully extinguished and cold before disposing of their contents.
- Don’t leave bottles or glass in woodland or grassland. Take them home or dispose in a waste or recycling bin.
- Be considerate in parking vehicles so you don’t impede 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 – leave the area as quickly as possible.
- If you see a fire in the countryside, report it to NIFRS immediately by calling 999.
- If you see someone setting fires, report it to the PSNI.
