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Fire crews tackle mountain blaze Fire crews tackle mountain blaze
(10 minutes later)
Fire crews have been dealing with an overnight fire on Northern Ireland's highest mountain.Fire crews have been dealing with an overnight fire on Northern Ireland's highest mountain.
At one stage am Irish Coast Guard helicopter had to be sent from Dublin to monitor the fire on Slieve Donard, County Down. An Irish Coast Guard helicopter and an RAF helicopter helped firefighters to monitor the fire on Slieve Donard, County Down.
There were concerns at one point that it could spread to the tree line of the mountain. Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Commander Area Commander Jim McCallum said that they believed the gorse fire had been started deliberately.
The fire, which has been raging through the night, follows days of dry and hot weather in Northern Ireland. "We had three crews during the night mostly to monitor the fire," he said.
"We are extremely reluctant to commit crews during the night-time essentially due to the danger of personnel falling into a gully or getting trapped by the fire."
He said that they would have moved in only if there had been a threat to property.
A/C McCallum said that because it had been such a visible fire their control room had been inundated with calls.