Major risk to life from ongoing irresponsible lighting of fires near forests

23^rd April 2010 :  Coillte estimates that approx 1,500 acres of forests have been burned in the last week, about half of which is Coillte owned and half privately owned. Forest fires put lives of the people who have to fight them at risk, as well as causing major damage to property, wild life and habitats.

These fires are mainly as a result of fires being lit in a careless and dangerous way to burn off vegetation in close proximity to forests, in the current dry spell.

Coillte reminds people that it is illegal to set fires in growing vegetation from 1^st March to 31^st August under the wildlife act and appeals to anyone doing it to stop and for everyone to be vigilant when they are out, near, or in forests.

Over the last few days fire crews, foresters and volunteers from the local communities have been fighting a number of potentially dangerous forest fires in Connemara and gorse fires in counties Kerry and Clare .

Gerard Murphy, Managing Director of Coillte Forest said:  "We've encountered some very dry weather over the past two weeks which combined with the very cold winter adds to the danger of fires spreading quickly.  From Coillte's point of view it is important that people are extremely vigilant.  People's safety is a priority for us and we call on everyone to be aware of the danger and act accordingly."

Coillte hopes that the good weather conditions will permit and encourage the maximum enjoyment of our forests, but urges people to be behave responsibly, be vigilant, and help stamp out forest fires.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Tom Byrne
Tel: 086 810 4224

or
Gráinne Hogan
+353 (0) 1 2011178 or  086-8213147

Note to Editors.

Coillte is a commercial company operating in forestry, land based businesses, renewable energy and panel products.

The company employs approx 1,100 people and was established in 1988. It owns over 445,000 hectares of land, about 7% of the land cover of Ireland.