People were evacuated during Mayo wildfire

Louisburgh councillor Cllr Chris Maxwell has complimented the fire service in Westport and Castlebar for its quick action in tackling a wildfire in West Mayo last month.

Cllr Maxwell told a meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District that a section of the mountainous terrain in Glenkeen, near Louisburgh, had "developed into a massive wildfire" on Thursday afternoon, March 21st, and it was not brought under control until 6am the next day.

“It was a very serious situation. People had to be evacuated. Thanks to all the farm contractors who came with their slurry trucks and people on social media offering to help, and thanks also to local people who supplied food and water. I want to thank them all for saving houses and saving lives, it could have been a disaster. The Meitheal spirit was clearly there."

Cllr Maxwell said several hundred acres of mountain was burned but it could have been much worse. 

“The fire was so close to hundreds of acres of forest, which would burn all the way from Thallabawn and down to Roonagh. It was only 100 yards from it."

He said the fire started about 100 metres from Glenkeen but nobody knew the cause.

"It could have been a cigarette thrown out the window, it is a very busy road. 

"Maybe there could be an education campaign [by Mayo County Council] to alert the public to be careful with their rubbish because this can happen again very easily.

"We were so lucky there was no human life lost, although plenty of wildlife was lost.” 

Cllr Maxwell said he had also been asked by several local people about the failure to deploy a helicopter to tackle the blaze, noting there were nearby lakes that could have been used as a water source. 

Head of the municipal district Seamus O’Mongáin stated it would have been the fire service that made the call on whether or not to deploy a helicopter.