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The great Spring weather we had all hoped for and craved had finally arrived during the latter half of March and would remain for more than two weeks across Ireland bringing sublime conditions. The days are longer, the sun wouldn't set until well after 20.00, and with strong high pressure locked in place it was the perfect set-up. Every single day was sunny and mild with barely any clouds at all, in fact, many days would turn out 100% clear which is rare in itself. Temperatures would rise from 15C into the 22C range, the breeze was light and the nights were clear one after the other. I made so many binocular observations of the TCrB field I was almost sick looking at the constellation (not really I'm just kidding).
The country became extremely dry, the roads were dusty and the sky took on that hazy look to it which promised nice sunsets. A large bank of Saharan dust was still over UK and Ireland enhancing that hazy look and contributing to lingering glows after sunset. All of this was perfect except for one strange event, wild fires! These actually began a week ago with several notable but random fires on the Mourne mountains in Co. Down, then another fire appeared in the same area a week later which was declared a national emergency. It was absolutely massive lasting for many days which became a big story in the news on a daily bases. Fire crews were stretched and the area was closed off to the public, then the news revealed that fire fighters suspected that all the fires in the Mournes were the work of arsonists, in other words they were not accidental. One person was even arrested however I never heard how that panned out.
Assuming the arsonist was caught I expected the whole thing to die down but the complete opposite happened, it got much worse with wild fires breaking out all over the country including parts of Britain and Scotland also. With the ground being so dry the wild grass and bushes were like tinder and with an Ely breeze fanning the flames it was the perfect recipe for fires. I began to wonder if I would see any of these fires, I have been documenting them for years on camera, the last major event I experienced was the Glenshane fire of 2018 which lasted for three days. Then on March 30th reports appeared in the media of another large blaze in Co. Donegal however I was unable to travel that far to cover the event. I decided from then on I would be on the look out for fires as long as this dry high pressure weather lasted.
On March 31st Roisin and I where in Omagh on another one of these warm glorious days with perfect unbroken sunshine, we had just left town and had began our drive home along the famous Omagh road when suddenly to my half left I spotted a big fire. My casual mind set shifted into the single minded focus I feel when storms are brewing. I couldn't tell where it was, I guessed it was the N/NW Sperrins somewhere but judging distance to these fires can be difficult by eye alone, it may even have been one of the Donegal fires which were still ongoing for the second day. The wild fire looked like a grey-white volcanic plume going vertically upwards then spread out into a pyro-cumulus 'anvil', in other words it took on the form of a thunderstorm made from smoke particles. I wanted to chase after it but couldn't deviate from our plans so we continued on home to Cookstown where I lost it from view.
Once back home I packed the van with my camera gear and snacks so everything was ready if I needed to go on the chase. I needed to know where the fire was and what would be the best way to get to it, and if it was even still going at all. It could already be out, or it could have been bigger than before, the time was approaching 18.00 and there was only two hours of sunlight remaining so time was ticking. I got chatting with Nigel McFarland and Colleen Webb about the sighting I made and they confirmed reports on social media of a gorse fire in the Sperrins. The fire service confirmed it was still going and that several trucks where at the scene. We found out it was located on Sawel mountain, a steep hill within the Sperrins, I did a quick check on a map, the best option would be to head to Draperstown then take a left out the scenic route somewhere near Plumbridge, get a visual on it and wing it from there. Nigel and Colleen where also chasing it, Nigel from the N and Colleen from the E so we all headed out immediately.
Rhua and I made our way as swiftly as we could, I met Colleen in Draperstown and our two vehicles began chasing through the back roads of the Sperrins. We couldn't see any smoke from our vantage point at all so we just kept going hoping that would change. Nigel rang, he was on location and confirmed it was still going but highlighted that finding a back road to access the fire, even for drone flying was difficult, as the fire service and police had blocked off the best road which offered a great view. Colleen and I continued driving, we could smell the burning gorse bushes in the air and knew we where getting close but the hills still obscured our view. The route was very scenic with beautiful countryside all around while the roads twisted, climbed and dived like a roller coaster, it was like an episode of the Dukes Of Hazard.
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Finally with less than an hour to sunset the fire came into view, the road was indeed blocked with fire engines, so we had to drive on to find a spot to take off, that was not easy at all so we just pulled onto the grass verge of a narrow road and got out. We couldn't even seen the fire from here, the hills blocked the view so DSLR photography would be impossible. I powered up the DJI Mavic 3 Classic and got into the air, flew up the gorgeous side of the mountain in the warm evening light, then the fire came into view. It definitely was nowhere near as big as earlier, fire crews had got on the scene and got to work fast. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to hike across that dangerous and unpredictable landscape carrying gear?, not an easy time at all. The black scorched area indicated how much landscape it had consumed earlier.
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The sky was very hazy and of low contrast, especially now as the sun was starting to dip below the mountain peak on the other side casting a shadow down the mountain.
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Still at least a five point fire at this stage. The digital zoom feature of the drone made life so much easier when recording video, that way I could get in closer to areas of interest without bringing the drone down too close or the risk of loosing signal due to the hills. I did a single flight, got images and footage, the battery began to drop in percentage so I flew back to the road then Colleen and I tried to come up with a plan B. We would like to get a closer look or a better angle, maps showed a road which would take us around the mountain then back down the other side to where Nigel was, it would be about ten miles, we decided what the heck let's do it, the clock was ticking and the sun was getting lower, also we wanted to shoot the sunset too so we began the drive along 'Bob's road'.
That road was really something, narrow, diving and rising steeply, cattle grids, pot holes, deep ditches, Rhua was starting to panic a little from all the rough ground and I realized my fuel level wasn't as much as I had thought despite topping up a little before leaving and this steep driving was making the van work harder than usual so I decided to just pull over and let Rhua out and enjoy the scenery. Colleen continued along the road in search of a better angle then Nigel rang to say the fire was out, the crews had got the best of it and he was already on his way home. So I then turned my attention towards the sunset, the landscape was bathed in golden hour light so I decided to enjoy it and sent the drone up for one more filming session.
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Facing E towards several summits at golden hour, a beautiful part of the country, this landscape was all formed by ancient glaciers. You can see the smoke in the sky which blew across from the Mourne Mountains in the Ely breeze.
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Facing W, the sunset was absolutely beautiful, not because it had remarkable colours, but because of the atmospheric conditions. The atmosphere was full of haze, smoke and Saharan dust which created a soft light like a painting. The numerous crests of the Sperrins looked like sand dunes in a desert creating lovely shade and tones, to me it really did look like a desert, I got nice footage of this moment on the video below.
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Solar disk setting in the haze with cool and warm colour tones as dusk fell on the 'Sperrins desert'. What a gorgeous end to the day. I began the drive back at 20.30 and navigated back up the steep narrow mountain road with only room for one car and with fuel getting low, I would just take my time. Then I met another car coming down the trail, we stopped facing one another, there was nowhere for him to pull over, so I had to reverse the entire way down the mountain on that narrow road trying not to drive into the steep ditches, it was a little nerve wrenching to be honest, but finally I got pulled in and let him past. Then back up the trail once more and after what seemed an eternity I cleared the shadows of the valley and back onto high ground and open skies where I felt a great sense of relief. I even ended up missing my turn off and had a longer drive back, but I couldn't complain, it was meant to me, the scenery was absolutely amazing, even being on this road surrounded by the Sperrins with beautiful rivers and fields, wild life and the ruins of old houses was like an enchanted fairy land, and all moody as it can get in the semi dark blue light of dusk, even planet Jupiter joined in to complete the painting.
On one hand I was happy to capture my first wild fire since 2018 but on the other it was a pity we had arrived so late and missed the best of it, by the way this mind set is from a photographer's brain and not someone who likes fires and their associated damage by any means!. I made a resolution this evening that I would try my best to film more this week, I had a gut feeling there would be more fires and little did I know how true those instincts would be for the two largest wild fires I had seen in years where just about to happen. Footage above with the sunset, thanks very much for reading.
Martin McKenna
