Sligo Fire Service says the recent gorse fires which destroyed over 4000 hectares of land in the county cost at least €150,000 to tackle.
However, it's still not clear how exactly the fires started, according to Gerry O'Malley, acting Chief Fire Officer in Sligo who gave a briefing to Sligo County Council yesterday.
He said three main areas were affected by the fires in early May including the Killery mountain/Slish Wood area, the Geevagh/Ballymote areas and the Lough Easkey/Ox Mountain area.
He says they managed to protect a number of houses by using all resources available to them including the Air Corps, Coastguard helicopter and support from Leitrim and Donegal fire services.
Mr. O'Malley said it is still not clear how the fires started but all of the information has been passed onto the Gardai:
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