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Efforts to fight Bray Head gorse fire hampered by drones

Gardaí said that emergency helicopters cannot safely assist in until all drones are out of the air space.

LAST UPDATE | 13 Jul 2018

Dart fire Iarnród Éireann / Twitter Iarnród Éireann / Twitter / Twitter

FIREFIGHTING EFFORTS TO combat a gorse fire in Wicklow have been affected due to members of the public using drones.

Dart services between Bray and Greystones are expected to remain closed for the rest of the day after a gorse fire that’s affected line near Bray.

Iarnród Éireann said that staff are on site attempting to repair the damage and that there would be bus transfers between Bray/Greystones for Rosslare services.

Wicklow Fire Service said that a crew from Greystones was “working hard” to put the fire out.

The fire started in front of a tent and spread along steep ground east of the cliff walk at around 1am.

Iarnród Éireann says that normal services into Dublin are operating from Bray.

Dart line Iarnród Éireann / Twitter Iarnród Éireann / Twitter / Twitter

Drone warnings

Gardaí and the Irish Air Corps have issued repeated warnings after drones used by members of the public hampered efforts to fight the gorse fire on Bray Head.

“Aerial firefighting operations at Bray Head have been stood down due to drone activity in the area, the Irish Air Corps said.

Wildfires are currently spreading across Bray head, please refrain from using drones in the area to allow us to combat the wildfire

“We are asking that anyone in the Bray Head area who is using a drone to please stop doing so,” Gardaí said.

There is a gorse fire in the area and emergency helicopters cannot safely assist in until all drones are out of the air space.

- with reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha

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