Fire crews from Port Erin and Douglas were called to a gorse fire this morning after planned controlled burning spread rapidly and unexpectedly out of control. Fire crews using beaters and hose reels brought the fire under control quickly. They then contained the fire by dampening down the surrounding gorse which was unaffected at this point. Although the underlying ground conditions were soft and the water content of the land high, the dry weather over the last week had allowed the gorse to dry out to the extent that it burnt freely. Crews were in attendance for a further two hours to dampen down the area affected which was about 100m x 60m. Station Officer Carl Kinvig said “ Crews worked quickly to bring the fire under control, and avoided the fire spreading to adjoining land. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the crew from DEFA who attended in their Pinzgauer and assisted crews in bringing the blaze under control”