The cause of a fire at a hay barn in Co. Monaghan late last week has yet to be determined, according to Monaghan County Council.

Monaghan Fire & Civil Protection was alerted to a blaze at a barn in a rural area of north Monaghan last Friday (June 18) around 3:30p.m.

Fire appliances from Monaghan Fire Station attended the incident and fire crews made down to an open source water supply and the fire was extinguished using CAFS (Compressed Air Foam System).

According to the council, a wheeled loader on site was used to remove hay bales from the barn for further dampening down and fire crews left the scene again shortly after 6:00p.m.

Thankfully there were no animals involved in the fire incident and no-one was harmed.

According to official sources, the cause of the fire at the hay barn is still "unknown".

Meanwhile, earlier this month, following a number of farm machinery fires, firefighters in Co. Carlow offered a range of tips for farmers and agricultural contractors to help avoid their tractors and other machinery going on fire this summer.

In a statement Carlow County Fire and Rescue Service said:

Some useful tips to help farmers avoid fires include: