Lining the landscape where the fire is burning are plantations of Sitka spruce trees.<\/p>\n
Sitka spruce, which originates in North America, is a staple of Coillte forests, owing to its preference by the industry for being easier to grow and fell at a faster rate than many other types of tree.<\/p>\n
Ecologist P\u00e1draic Fogarty believes the wildfires have been exacerbated not just by the hottier, drier conditions of the past fortnight, but by the local woodland being made up of Sitka spruce.<\/p>\n
The oil and resin in the wood can mean the trees also light on fire easier than other species and the conditions used to create Sitka spruce plantations also make the land more susceptible to wildfires, said Fogarty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the flames get into a woodland, the tree goes up very quickly,\u201d Fogarty contended.<\/p>\n
This is worsened, Fogarty said, due to how land is prepared for planting Sitka spruce.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get them to grow they have to drain the peat they are under, so that land is artificially drained to dry them out \u2013 all those factors together with climate change make for a very flammable situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The semi-state body responsible for Ireland\u2019s forests, however, has a different view.\n<\/p>\n
Coillte: Range of factors at play in wildfires<\/p>\n
When contacted, Coillte strongly rejected Fogarty\u2019s contention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no evidence that Sitka spruce plantations are inherently more likely to cause or increase the risk of wildfire than any other vegetation type,\u201d the semi-state company said.<\/p>\n
Instead, it argued that wildfires are \u201ccomplex events influenced by a range of factors\u201d, including the weather, prolonged dry periods, topography, fuel conditions and ignition sources.<\/p>\n
![\"IMG_8125](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784943193_998_.jpeg\")
\n Smoke rising from the fire on Thursday afternoon. Eoghan Dalton \/ The Journal<\/p>\n
Eoghan Dalton \/ The Journal \/ The Journal\n<\/p>\n
Coillte drew attention to how a fire is started, as it said that wildfires in Ireland \u201calmost always arise from man-made sources of ignition\u201d, whether that is the burning of gorse or if a disposable barbecue set left behind on arid land.<\/p>\n
It added that recent major wildfires in Ireland show that \u201call vegetation types\u201d are vulnerable under extreme fire conditions.<\/p>\n
Fogarty disputed Coillte\u2019s statement as he argued that native and broadleaf trees are less flammable as a species.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to a research paper published last year<\/a> that found that forest plantations in temperate regions, which can have a similar climate to Ireland, were \u201ctwice as likely\u201d to suffer devastating wildfires than natural forests.<\/p>\n Efforts to slow the flames<\/p>\n A system known as \u2018firebreaks\u2019, where strips of land are cleared of trees and grass as a way of slowing the spread of wildfires, has been employed by Coillte in areas including Slievenamon. It has become more common in Ireland over the past decade<\/a> following success in the UK.<\/p>\n While this preventative action worked at first, the strong winds on Wednesday saw the flames reach woodland.<\/p>\n Fogarty said that the industry has to protect its assets in the form of its forests, but he warned that it\u2019s not sustainable long-term.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not addressing the problems as far as I can see \u2013 it\u2019s very difficult as the whole system has been built around monoculture forestry, including the sawmills and nurseries. It needs fundamental reform.\u201d<\/p>\n These reforms, added Fogarty, include the government and industry pushing for forests to transition away from being solely Sitka spruce, particularly when forests are felled in future.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of replanting with another round of monocultures, we need to be redesigning those forests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n However, Fogarty is not hopeful of this happening anytime soon \u2013 unless future wildfires begin to harm the bottom line of forestry owners.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see more of these plantations which are economically compromised because of extreme weather events,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The environmental argument isn\u2019t working. The only thing I can see that will shift the attitude is when we see the risk of these plantations, managing them as commercial assets, exceeds the value from an insurance perspective.<\/p>\n