A number of houses have been evacuated on Bray Head in Co Wicklow as firefighters continue to tackle a gorse fire.
Wicklow Fire Service said the fire started in front of a tent and “spread along steep ground east of the cliff walk at around 1am".
This afternoon, emergency services were still tackling the blaze - saying there was "very difficult access" to the area affected.
Smoke was also reported to be heading over Bray town as a result of the large blaze.
Both gardaí and defence forces have asked people to stop flying drones in the area as efforts continue to tackle the fire.
The Irish Air Corps said one of their helicopters had to leave the area due to a drone operating in the airspace.
We have just left the scene of a fire at Bray Head due to a drone operating in the area. We can not share airspace with drones. Please report such activity to @gardainfo pic.twitter.com/0mkAFh5Ysw
— OC No.3 Ops Wing (@OC3OPS) July 13, 2018
We are asking that anyone in the Bray Head area who is using a drone to please stop doing so. There is a gorse fire in the area and emergency helicopters cannot safely assist in until all drones are out of the air space.
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) July 13, 2018
Rail damage
The blaze caused damage to cabling along the rail line between Bray and Greystones, forcing Irish Rail to cancel services between the two towns for the day.
Update: Staff on site repairing damage to cabling due to fire, line between Bray and Greystones expected to remain closed for the remainder of the day. Bus transfers btwn Bray/Greystones for Rosslare services. Dublin accepting rail tickets pic.twitter.com/r68u8N8aJe
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) July 13, 2018
Firefighters said the steep cliff face gave the fire a “protected route” down to the railway track to the track while crews fought the fire from above.
Irish Rail confirmed the line will remain closed for the rest of the day due to fire damage to signalling and telecoms cabling.
It said bus transfers will operate between Greystones and Bray, while Dublin Bus is also accepting rail tickets to and from Greystones.
Fire Crew from Greystones working hard to fully extinguish fire close to rail line on Bray Head. The fire started in front of a tent and spread along steep ground east of the cliff walk at around 1 a.m. #bray @BrayTCouncil @GreystonesCC @IrishRail #Wildfire pic.twitter.com/xL8at32arE
— Wicklow Fire Service (@FireWicklow) July 13, 2018
Additional reporting by Mick Staines