VIDEO: The fires on Frayne Bog have exposed massive levels of illegal dumping

The fires are all but out and the smoke that has shrouded the fields and forests of Frayne Bog is finally beginning to clear.
But the fallout from the fires is almost as disturbing as the sight of flames that raged across these environmentally sensitive shrublands last week.

Over 60 hectares of land was reduced to ash and scorched earth during the five days in which Meath Fire Service, assisted by the local community and Coillte, bravely beat back the infernos away from homes and property. 

The flames stripped the foliage and gorse to expose extraordainary levels of illegal dumping and the wanton pollution of the local countryside that's the pride of the local Kildalkey community and was home to the precious habitats of hares, newts, frogs and nesting birds.

VIDEO shot at Frayne Bog last Thursday evening (5th July)

The Meath Chronicle returned to the Frayne area and the bog road that links to Wood Lane last Thursday evening. Local residents who have demanded action on the issue of illegal dumping on their doorsteps are angry that their calls have fallen on deaf ears. We didn't need to look very hard to see why that anger was justified. 

The previously lush green ferns and wild grasses that framed the road have been wiped out by the fires, the ugly truth exposed for all to see.

Just along a 200 metre stretch of roadside that links Athboy to Ballivor, we saw the charred remnants of cans, barrels, tyres and fencing. There was an old electrical fuseboard and even a toaster among the debris. Along with countless numbers of bottles and glass jars the rubbish lined both sides of the road and into the entrances of the bog road that leads to Wood Lane.

Meath Fire Service believes that rubbish including broken bottles may have acted as a catalyst for some of the fires, broken glass magnifying the sun's rays during Ireland's ongoing heatwave. At the very least it provided combustible fuel for the fire to feed on. There was worse to come.

One local resident who didn't wish to be named took us to the entrance of the bog road used constantly by fire crews during the five day firefight. 
Barely hidden from view but as far as the eye could see into the undergrowth was bag after bag of rubbish. Clothes, bottles, blankets and household rubbish was strewn into the ditch just yards from where the Fire Service and locals worked together to provide natural fire breaks and prevent fires spreading further just days earlier.

On the other side of the entrance and over a small ditch the vista was the same. A mattress, a microwave oven and a babyseat for a car lay among the countless bags of refuse that had somehow managed to avoid the wildfires spread.

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Somehow the flames managed to miss these dump sites, for that is what they are. It's easy to see how cars or vans could reverse into the laneway and toss their cargo into the ditches. 

Speaking at last week's full monthly meeting, Meath County Council CEO Jackie Maguire said that parts of the County presented a difficult problem in terms of policing illegal dumping. She said that even if they had a 24/7 monitoring system, there would still be difficulties. There was also the problem of getting proof of dumping and she pleaded with people in the county to report any incidents of illegal dumping to the council. “I implore people to let us know when they see anything like this”, she said.

It's easy to see where she is coming from in the first part of that statement. How do you adequately police such a vast area. Conservative estimates suggest at least 60 hectares have been wiped out by the fires, Coillte won't supply a final figure "until the ground is cold".

SEE ALL THE PICTURES OF FRAYNE BOG DUMPING HERE

However, the request for people to contact their local authority when evidence of dumping is discovered cuts little ice with locals who say they have reported activity and dump blackspots to Coillte and the Council but heard little back. There is no question that the authorities have a difficult job on their hands. Illegal dumping across the County cost Meath County Council €2.4m in 2016. The Council also appears to have an onerous task in trying to successfully prosecute offenders. The Meath Chronicle does understand that a number of cases are in the pipeline in this regard.

The only positive, if one can be taken, from the fires that raged through these Kildalkey fields and forests, is that it has further exposed the major problem Meath has with illegal dumping. Every effort must be made to eradicate this blight on our landscape.

See Tuesday's Meath Chronicle for more on this story and if you wish to get in touch please email news@meathchronicle.ie or tel: 0469079613.