{"id":565484,"date":"2026-07-24T06:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T06:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/565484\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T06:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T06:13:11","slug":"wildfires-irelands-new-normal-as-firefighters-continue-to-tackle-slievenamon-blaze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/565484\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildfires ‘Ireland’s new normal’ as firefighters continue to tackle Slievenamon blaze"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wildfires and drought will be embedded in a normal Irish summer as climate change intensifies, experts have warned, as firefighters spent a fourth day battling a major blaze in Co Tipperary<\/a>, with the smell of smoke reported as far away as Cork<\/a> City.<\/p>\n

Tipperary Fire and Rescue Service has been tackling the blaze near Clonmel<\/a> since it broke out on Monday, supported by air corps helicopters dropping water on the flames.<\/p>\n

The smoke from the fire travelled throughout adjoining counties, with thousands of Cork residents<\/a> experiencing acrid air in the skies.<\/p>\n

\"FlamesFlames and plumes of smoke from the wildfires on Slievenamon. Picture: Roz Purcell\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Poor air quality can cause several health issues and is likely to be responsible for more than 1,300 needless deaths in Ireland a year, with such wildfires now inevitable as climate change worsens, experts said.<\/p>\n

Cork City Fire Brigade second officer Victor Shine said: \u201cThe climate is getting hotter and it is getting drier for longer periods of time, which increases the risk of a fire starting and spreading faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blaze at Slievenamon is proving exceptionally difficult to get under control, he added.<\/p>\n

Items such as discarded cigarettes can have a devastating impact when conditions are like those seen in the country over the past month, according to John Sodeau, emeritus professor of chemistry at University College Cork.<\/p>\n

Mr Sodeau, who is an expert on air quality pollution, said greater public education and awareness on wildfire prevention is essential.<\/p>\n

\"FarmersFarmers in in Co Tipperary transporting tankers of water to spread at ground level in an effort to contain the major wildfire at Slievenamon. Picture: Brian Lawless\/PA<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt just stands to reason that there will be more damage, even without extra problems from climate change. But it could be stopped if people were a bit more educated. I\u2019m surprised that people aren\u2019t more aware. But, clearly, they aren\u2019t \u2014 and that really is up to the Government to raise awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosshaven fire<\/p>\n

The recent fire that devastated an area around Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven<\/a> was a wake-up call, according to Cork<\/a> City councillor Honore Kamegni.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe climate crisis is no longer a problem for another generation or another continent. What happened in Crosshaven shows that climate change is already having real consequences here in Cork.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are seeing more intense and dangerous conditions and we have only begun to witness how rapidly these impacts can escalate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Extreme heat, supercharged by the climate crisis, is sucking Europe dry in summer and intensifying the drought hitting the continent, a scientific analysis has found.<\/p>\n

\" The gorse fire near Camden Fort Meagher, Crosshaven, Co Cork, on July 13 which threatened houses nearby. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Commercial State-owned forestry firm Coillte issued a reminder to the public that a status orange high forest fire risk warning remains in effect until 12pm today.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Purcell, a witness at Slievenamon, watched neighbours, farmers, and emergency crews rally together to protect homes, livestock, and the mountain that has long been at the heart of the local community. She described the blaze as \u201cterrifying\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re communities that live on Slievenamon and this mountain has a presence,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s really important to us and to just see the destruction on the mountain \u2014 it\u2019s horrendous.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

Pat Neville, communications manager at Coillte, said the \u201cimmediate focus\u201d is on containing the fire as \u201cquickly and as safely as possible\u201d, adding it is \u201ctoo early\u201d to assess the extent of the damage to the forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of these fires start naturally in Ireland,\u201d he said, pointing to the fire risk warning in place nationwide.<\/p>\n

Describing the countryside as \u201cbone dry\u201d, he urged the public not to light campfires or barbecues or engage in any activity that could spark a blaze.<\/p>\n

It comes as France faced a fresh round of wildfires, with more than 20,000 people, including thousands of tourists in campsites and other holiday accommodation, evacuated as a \u201cparticularly intense\u201d blaze advanced on the south-west of the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wildfires and drought will be embedded in a normal Irish summer as climate change intensifies, experts have warned,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[185249,2885,79,61,60,43,767],"class_list":["post-565484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-tipperary-news","tag-climate-change","tag-cork-news","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}