A 5G mast has been set alight on the Andersonstown Road – it's the latest in a series of attacks on masts in West Belfast in recent years.
An eyewitness at the scene of the blaze told us: "It was very dangerous. The firefighters thought it was going to fall over at one stage due to the intense heat and the smell was disgusting."
SDLP Councillor Paul Doherty has called for an end to attacks on 5G masts in the area.
“This is the latest in a long line of attacks like this in the wider West Belfast area and people need to realise how serious this situation is.
"As a result of the latest attack last night a number of businesses and the leisure centre were put at risk by such a large mast catching on fire which then had to be brought under control.
"The resources of the fire service were taken away from more important matters and I commend them for their response and extinguishing this blaze without any damage to nearby buildings.
“Damage to these masts always has a significant impact on the local community. I am regularly contacted by people and businesses who are struggling to connect to telephone and internet services, and this can continue for months at a time.
"I know that on-call nurses have experienced issues as a result of poor signal, while the operations of local taxi services have also been affected. I have contacted network providers on a number of occasions in an attempt to find solutions to these issues and restore connectivity as quickly as possible.
“People in this area are utterly fed up with these attacks and the disruption it’s causing to their lives. I would urge whoever is behind this to wise up and look at the damage they are causing to the local community.
"Whatever is fuelling this, it is achieving nothing and I would ask anyone with any information to come forward to police so we can bring these attacks to an end.”
