Between 80 and 100 cars were destroyed in a blaze at a scrapyard in north county Dublin yesterday.
The Chief Fire Officer of Dublin Fire Brigade said the response to the fire near Ballyboughal in north county Dublin has been “scaled right back”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme, Greg O’Dwyer said a reduced number of fire appliances remain at the scene of the fire, which is now under control.
“We just have two fire appliances there and a water tanker on standby and just dampening down certain pockets of fire that are still smouldering there,” he said.
At the height of the fire yesterday afternoon, eight units of the fire brigade attended the scene: five fire engines, a foam tender and two water tankers.
“The fire was brought under control at about 8.15pm yesterday evening and that main black smoke plume that people could see from miles around, was gone.”
Watch: Multiple fire units tackle huge blaze at car scrapyard
Mr O’Dwyer said Dublin Fire Brigade is still not certain what caused the fire, adding that there could be multiple causes considering the area.
A video of the scene showed large flames and black smoke raging from the scrapyard. Mr O’Dwyer said car tyres would have caused the plume.
“There were approximately 80 to 100 cars involved and destroyed in the fire, but there was a huge stock of car tyres as well, which would have been giving off that black smoke,” he said.
Mr O’Dwyer said the fire was very dangerous to deal with, due to difficulties around access to the site.
“There was only one way in and out, so surrounding it was difficult… with gas cylinders and so on around the place,” he said.
He said locals had to be evacuated from the scene.
“There were a couple of houses which were very close to [the] site which were evacuated for their own safety,” he said.
Mr O’Dwyer added that the houses “were never in danger” but that they were evacuated to protect residents from smoke and “the possibility of some projectiles”.