An Irish Air Corps helicopter was called in to help fire crews as they battled a scrub fire in the world famous Burren, Co Clare.
Firefighters from Ennistymon spent over 10 hours on Sunday battling the blaze near Carran.
They were called to the scene at around midday but found the area to be inaccessible by vehicles.
Fire service personnel had to make their way to the fire on foot across difficult terrain and in intense heat.
As the fire spread over a significant area it was decided that assistance tackling the blaze would be required so the Irish Air Corps was requested to provide a helicopter.
An Agusta Westland 139 aircraft was dispatched to the area from Baldonnell aerodrome in west Dublin. The helicopter crew made several trips to Lake Inchiquin near Corofin where they refilled the aircraft’s Bambi bucket before dropping the water on the fire.
The helicopter crew later landed at Shannon Airport to refuel and has since returned to Baldonnell. Fire crews remained at the scene until late on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, in Co Galway, fire crews from three counties were called in to fight a significant blaze that affected forestry and bogland and closed a main road.
Fire crews from Gort, Ballinasloe, Loughrea and Portumna in Galway as well as units of the fire brigade from Scarriff Co Clare and Borrisokane in Tipperary have been fighting the fire at Ballyshrule for most of the day on Sunday.
The fire caused significant damage to both state and private forestry as well as a significant area of bogland. It’s understood that one barn was also destroyed by the fire.
A 500 metre section of the Woodford to Portumna R352 road was closed as a result of thick smoke sweeping across the route reducing visibility to zero. The road was finally reopened this morning.
Fire crews have also been dealing with fires at Lough Attorick on the Clare/Galway border. The fire service has been called to the scene several times in recent weeks.
