Big fire on Bray Head

B0jangles

So it's the summer holidays and that wonderful tradition is on us again whereby local kids set fire to Bray Head for fun and giggles.



So young birds and small animals dying because some little scumbags want to play with matches.



Any ideas out there about how to prevent this happening?

Judgement Day

B0jangles wrote: »

So it's the summer holidays and that wonderful tradition is on us again whereby local kids set fire to Bray Head for fun and giggles.



So young birds and small animals dying because some little scumbags want to play with matches.


Any ideas out there about how to prevent this happening?

As you say, it's a traditional activity. Bray Head and the Cliff Walk should be in State ownership and part of the Wicklow National Park. I could go on but what's the point. I haven't been up to the Cross since 1989 and I was considering bringing my young children up there this summer but am wary of the sort of people who now appear to hang out up there.

RosieJoe

Taken from Donegal County Council

What are the causes?
Uncontrolled fires happen for a variety of reasons, including people carelessly dropping cigarettes, leaving rubbish in an area, losing control of barbeques and bonfires, and in a small number of cases deliberately starting fires.

How to prevent wild fires on heaths

However, everyone can help to reduce the risk of fire so that Donegal’s countryside remains safe, by taking care during the dry summer months in particular. Firefighters are urging the public to help them to prevent these devastating fires occurring by following this preventative advice:

Smoking- If out walking or having a picnic, be sure to dispose of cigarettes and other smoking materials carefully and ensure that they are fully extinguished.

Barbeques- On most lands, it is actually illegal to light any fire, including barbeques, without the permission of the landowner.

Litter- Please take your litter home with you. Even a discarded glass bottle can start a fire.

Young People - Please educate children about the devastating consequences of causing fires.

The only way of stopping this from happening is education, but unfortunately you can only teach people who want to listen. There is nothing you can do with the rest

Nassau

Must be the day for fires - large fire in Castle St, behind 4 Star.

foxy06

Yes it looks like the back of the bike shop

B0jangles

It looks like it is turning into a really serious one this time;



The one about a week ago was fairly minor by comparison. Does occasionally wishing that one of the firestarters would accidentally set themselves a bit on fire make me a bad person?

BTW anyone getting the train home might want to keep an eye on the Irish Rail website, this might cause some problems.

insomniac86

I was about to make a similar thread I couldn't see where the fire was originating my view was obscured but you can see the smoke everywhere in town, had to close my window because I could smell the smoke getting in. Terrible stuff if it was done on purpose.

insomniac86

Smoke seems to be getting worse, looks like it's covered over all of the beach.

Alun

Just got a call from my wife, who says the traffic is at a standstill on the M11 at Shankill because of it. She has an open top car and had the top down, and has had to close it because of the smell. NRA website stating full road closure :eek:

B0jangles

It's very bad - from where I am (north seafront) Bray Head is completely invisible due to the smoke; also the wind is coming from the south so it could well spread right around the side of the hill If anyone is still up there I'd be seriously concerned for their safely.

insomniac86

I looked on the internet unsurprisingly there's no darts running between Greystones and Bray so you'd be better off seeking alternative transport. As for the smoke it seems to have turned lighter in colour which is good. Hopefully it won't last too long, looks like the fire service have their work cut out for them today.

orchidsrpretty

I wouldn't be surprised if it was planned by higher powers. With the Airshow on sunday, if that fire happened on the day it would have to be abandoned no doubt. Precautionary measures to prevent an upset to a big event for the town, but of course the truth will never be known! :P *Grabs tinfoil hat*

Gone Drinking

Smoke has made its way up to Loughlinstown (where I work). Its really obvious even this far up and its coming in the AC and stinking the building.

HeidiHeidi

Gone Drinking wrote: »

Smoke has made its way up to Loughlinstown (where I work). Its really obvious even this far up and its coming in the AC and stinking the building.

I can smell smoke in the air in Ballsbridge :eek:

Moody_mona

Is this from Bray Head or the Castle Street fire, which is worse?

italodisco

Can smell it in DRUMCONDRA !!

Wow that must be bad

B0jangles

Moody_mona wrote: »

Is this from Bray Head or the Castle Street fire, which is worse?

If its gotten as far as Ballsbridge, I'd say it's the Bray Head fire, a big cloud of smoke went up the coast about half an hour ago. The smoke is a lot lighter now so hopefully the fire brigade have been able to get the fire under control.

HeidiHeidi

italodisco wrote: »

Can smell it in DRUMCONDRA !!

Wow that must be bad

Strong southerly wind would be wafting it up into the city fairly rapidly.

5p9arw38djv2b4

Smoke obscuring all of clontarf sea front, visibility is dreadful, can barely see the ferry or the towers. Must be a huge fire, was just in St Anne's park and the smell of smoke is really strong

Ihatecuddles

Im watching from my garden, awful stuff.

Husband is stuck in traffic. Hope its cleared up soon!

Cocoon

There is a smell of smoke as far north as Swords.

Dredd_J

Can smell smoke and see hazy smoke in Dunshaughlin.

B0jangles

Still going but a good bit less smoke than there was at the worst of it - you couldn't see the Head at all for a while.

Is there anyone here who has a view from the Greystones side?

insomniac86

Greystones problem now lol jk looks like it's blowing mostly out to sea anyway

keano_afc

Castle St one is still going. So much smoke. Hope there's not too much damage.

ted1

Could have started by natrual courses. Sun being reflected off Quartz in stone or through glass.

duffwhack

I live on the Greystones side of Bray Head. No sign of a fire from here, I can't even see smoke. I think it's all blowing towards Dublin.

ninebeanrows

Can smell the smoke here in Portmarnock!

Max Headroom

keano_afc wrote: »

Castle St one is still going. So much smoke. Hope there's not too much damage.

Wondering if it was in the car tyre place ...would explain the thick black smoke...

NeonCookies

The building of the bike shop is destroyed, roof burned.

bikerjohn

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised if it was planned by higher powers. With the Airshow on sunday, if that fire happened on the day it would have to be abandoned no doubt. Precautionary measures to prevent an upset to a big event for the town, but of course the truth will never be known! :P *Grabs tinfoil hat*

and man was never on the moon FFS :rolleyes:

Thargor

I ran up Bray Head at 18:30 to see what it was like up there, went up from the gate at the roundabout on the Southern Cross, absolutely crazy amounts of smoke coming from the tiniest little fire about 100m from the cross towards Greystones, a strong wind was blowing it all out to sea and up towards Dublin so it didn't even smell like smoke up there.

orchidsrpretty

bikerjohn wrote: »

and man was never on the moon FFS :rolleyes:

Don't take yourself too serious there John might give yourself a (2) stroke !


:rolleyes:

zoobizoo

Judgement Day wrote: »

I haven't been up to the Cross since 1989 and I was considering bringing my young children up there this summer but am wary of the sort of people who now appear to hang out up there.

I've been up there many times during the day and have never encountered anyone untoward. Same goes for my brother and his kids. They head up every time they're back in Bray.

Calibos

Que Judgement Day saying something like, "Yeah, well I still wouldn't go up there because of all the dog **** anyway" or words to that effect

Calibos

IMHO, what we're seeing is paradoxically an effect of the lack of malicious fires/arson started by the delightful young day trippers from Dublin over the last few years who now make there fun out in Portmarnock and Howth every Summer instead of Bray. Without regular fires over the last few years theres been a buildup of combustible dead dried vegitation. Forest Management authorities in many countries that acceded to negative public opinion about controlled burns years ago have realised they need to re-instate controlled burn policies otherwise you end up with massive conflagrations that destroys the whole forest instead of just small fires confined to the underbrush that remain small but leave the trees relatively unscathed.

Annasopra

Calibos wrote: »

Que Judgement Day saying something like, "Yeah, well I still wouldn't go up there because of all the dog **** anyway" or words to that effect

Agreed or because xyz negative reason

Judgement Day

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Agreed or because xyz negative reason

At least I'm not on your ignore list.

Anyway, based on what zoobizoo said in this thread I will now undertake a safari to Bray Head and report back here.

gerbilgranny

Judgement Day wrote: »

I haven't been up to the Cross since 1989 and I was considering bringing my young children up there this summer but am wary of the sort of people who now appear to hang out up there.

I know someone else has replied to this post already - but I just couldn't let it go without putting my tuppence-worth in.

I think you and your children are missing out big-time, by not going up to the Cross - and even around the side towards the cliff walk etc. I've never encountered anything bad up there - far from it.

And while it's sensible to be cautious, I think it'd be a pity to have your children growing up thinking the world is a bad place.

B0jangles

Yeah, Bray Head is really very safe 99% of the time; the fires are an occasional seasonal problem.

Calibos wrote: »

Without regular fires over the last few years theres been a buildup of combustible dead dried vegitation. Forest Management authorities in many countries that acceded to negative public opinion about controlled burns years ago have realised they need to re-instate controlled burn policies otherwise you end up with massive conflagrations that destroys the whole forest instead of just small fires confined to the underbrush that remain small but leave the trees relatively unscathed.

That's a very valid point - last summer was extremely long, hot and sunny and I don't think there were any big fires, so there would be a very significant build-up of dead vegetation.

Also for anyone nervous of meeting trouble while out for a walk, I've never encountered any real anti-social trouble in all the years I've lived near it and have been walking up and around it. A lovely walk is the one that starts at the back of the Head, just beside Bray golf course (Near the roundabout). It goes up a steepish grass slope to the cross and then you can walk the whole way along the top of the head until you get to the slopes leading down to Greystones.

Wonderful views from up there

loyatemu

B0jangles wrote: »

Any ideas out there about how to prevent this happening?

If there was an effective way of stopping idiots from dropping lit cigarettes or matches in remote places I'm sure the authorities in Australia and California would have figured it out by now.

Thargor

loyatemu wrote: »

If there was an effective way of stopping idiots from dropping lit cigarettes or matches in remote places I'm sure the authorities in Australia and California would have figured it out by now.

These kinds of ecosystems are designed to burn though, especially in Oz, its part of the life cycle, better to burn it once a year than let it pile up.

Calibos

Originally Posted by Judgement Day
I haven't been up to the Cross since 1989 and I was considering bringing my young children up there this summer but am wary of the sort of people who now appear to hang out up there.

If you haven't been up since 1989 how would you know what sort of people now appear to hang out up there?

I haven't been up in the last year or so due to health issues but was up there regularly with the dogs and occasionally family at least once a week during the summers for several years. I haven't met any dodgy looking characters or dodgy looking gangs of youths in nearly a decade. What I have met all the time Winter or Summer up there is Irish Families, fitness enthusiasts running up and down, Americans tourists, groups of language students from every country on the continent, Eastern European families etc etc The last time I came across a dodgy looking group was 2005 (3 loud trackie wearing Dubs who did nothing but ask about my dogs btw) which is the reason I remember when it was. New dogs dated 'the incident' to 2005.

I dunno, maybe its confirmation bias but the reduction in the number of fires and dodgy character sightings on Bray Head in the last decade or so are just another data point that confirms in my own mind my oft stated theory that the Dart Summer Closures in 2006 were the best thing to happen for Bray in decades. Gangs of Drunken Dublin Youth took their antics to Portmarnock and Howth that year and never came back en masse. Seafront rapidly gentrified as a result and now we are starting to see investment in the last few years which appears to be accelerating.

No one denies the historical problems Bray had that you are always quick to remind us of. But there was a reason for the decay and dereliction and lack of investment. Brays image problem. 2006 was when the tide turned. Things are better now and will only get better.

Judgement Day

Calibos wrote: »

If you haven't been up since 1989 how would you know what sort of people now appear to hang out up there?

I haven't been up in the last year or so due to health issues but was up there regularly with the dogs and occasionally family at least once a week during the summers for several years. I haven't met any dodgy looking characters or dodgy looking gangs of youths in nearly a decade. What I have met all the time Winter or Summer up there is Irish Families, fitness enthusiasts running up and down, Americans tourists, groups of language students from every country on the continent, Eastern European families etc etc The last time I came across a dodgy looking group was 2005 (3 loud trackie wearing Dubs who did nothing but ask about my dogs btw) which is the reason I remember when it was. New dogs dated 'the incident' to 2005.

I dunno, maybe its confirmation bias but the reduction in the number of fires and dodgy character sightings on Bray Head in the last decade or so are just another data point that confirms in my own mind my oft stated theory that the Dart Summer Closures in 2006 were the best thing to happen for Bray in decades. Gangs of Drunken Dublin Youth took their antics to Portmarnock and Howth that year and never came back en masse. Seafront rapidly gentrified as a result and now we are starting to see investment in the last few years which appears to be accelerating.

No one denies the historical problems Bray had that you are always quick to remind us of. But there was a reason for the decay and dereliction and lack of investment. Brays image problem. 2006 was when the tide turned. Things are better now and will only get better.

You highlighted the wrong word. I don't know but from what I've heard things didn't sound too promising but after this thread I will be going up in August.

RosieJoe

Calibos wrote: »

If you haven't been up since 1989 how would you know what sort of people now appear to hang out up there?

I haven't been up in the last year or so due to health issues but was up there regularly with the dogs and occasionally family at least once a week during the summers for several years. I haven't met any dodgy looking characters or dodgy looking gangs of youths in nearly a decade. What I have met all the time Winter or Summer up there is Irish Families, fitness enthusiasts running up and down, Americans tourists, groups of language students from every country on the continent, Eastern European families etc etc The last time I came across a dodgy looking group was 2005 (3 loud trackie wearing Dubs who did nothing but ask about my dogs btw) which is the reason I remember when it was. New dogs dated 'the incident' to 2005.

I dunno, maybe its confirmation bias but the reduction in the number of fires and dodgy character sightings on Bray Head in the last decade or so are just another data point that confirms in my own mind my oft stated theory that the Dart Summer Closures in 2006 were the best thing to happen for Bray in decades. Gangs of Drunken Dublin Youth took their antics to Portmarnock and Howth that year and never came back en masse. Seafront rapidly gentrified as a result and now we are starting to see investment in the last few years which appears to be accelerating.

No one denies the historical problems Bray had that you are always quick to remind us of. But there was a reason for the decay and dereliction and lack of investment. Brays image problem. 2006 was when the tide turned. Things are better now and will only get better.

Really, I've never seen you state this theory of yours before

Calibos

RosieJoe wrote: »

Really, I've never seen you state this theory of yours before

Every chance I get

I should probably collate all my comments on the subject from various forums and compose a single Thread in this forum and just link to it in the future. Outside of this forum I only talk about my theory/stats when Bray is mentioned in a given thread to be followed by the usual "Bray...Brraaaaaayyy, Jaysus Brayruit wha wha" sh1te.

Dredd_J

I was up there during the last BIG fire. Helicopters were dropping water on the gorse and everything.
Those fires always look much worse than they are.
While there is a lot of smoke you could actually walk through the line of gorse thats burning and not even feel the heat.
The worst youll get are thorns stuck in your legs.

zoobizoo

Dredd_J wrote: »

The worst youll get are thorns stuck in your legs.

By the ruffians?

murpho999

Judgement Day wrote: »

You highlighted the wrong word. I don't know but from what I've heard things didn't sound too promising but after this thread I will be going up in August.

Seriously your fears are unfounded.

Go up any time during the day and it's mostly families with kids and dogs and no hassle.

Even there were dodgy characters, just avoid them and you'll have no hassle.

The view is well worth it.

Thargor

I was up again there, none of the head has actually burned, the burned bit is off down towards the sea in the Greystones direction, still everything left to burn on the actual head.

loyatemu

If i was a ne'er-do-well looking for somewhere to drink my flagon, I'm not sure I'd bother hiking all the way up to top of Bray Head - the only time I've ever been menaced up there is when I was chased by a swarm of angry bees.