‘Stop... before it’s too late’
A firefighter’s wife has made a heartfelt plea to the arsonists who are torching our valleys
THE wife of a firefighter has called on arsonists to stop their grass fire spree “before it’s too late and someone loses their life”.
Her husband was among the dozens of crew members called out to deal with more than 70 deliberately started grass fires in the space of 48 hours over the weekend across south Wales.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service group manager Vaughan Jenkins said they received 480 calls in total from 4pm on Saturday to 4pm on Sunday, with more than 400 relating to fires.
Some of those blazes were in Bridgend county.
Crews from across the area were called to blazes on the mountainside above Caerau, Maesteg, on Sunday, as well as the Bwlch, near Nantymoel, and also to Stormy Down, between Pyle and Bridgend.
The firefighter’s wife, who does not want to be named, said: “These firefighters have their own families who worry terribly when their loved one is called to a grass fire.
“Yes they signed up for the job, but these grass fires are unnecessarily putting firefighters’ lives at risk, not to mention the wildlife.
“This all needs to stop before it’s too late and someone loses their life.
“What if a family member of the person starting these fires had a fire in their own home? If all resources are attending the grass fire then there’ll be no-one to help.”
A spokesman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said crews were called to Llynfi View, Caerau, at 2.14pm on Sunday.
As many as 30 firefighters tackled the blaze, which is believed to have been started deliberately.
A spokesman said poor conditions under foot and a high wind hampered efforts to extinguish the blaze on Sunday night.
But a crew from Maesteg checked the area around 4.30am on Monday and found no flare ups.
On Sunday evening two fire engines from Kenfig Hill and Porthcawl tackled a 40-hectare fire, also be- lieved to have been deliberately started, at Stormy Down between Pyle and Bridgend.
A spokesman said the initial call was made at 7.19pm and firefighters used beaters and hosereel jets to bring the fire under control.
He added that smoke was also said to have impeded the M4 at one point.
Crews left the scene at 9pm.
And fire crews from Ogmore Vale, Pontycymmer and Gilfach Goch had to use firefighting knapsacks, which contain water, on a 12-hectare blaze on the Bwlch mountain near Nantymoel at 9.50pm on Sunday, as the fire was in a difficult location.
A spokesman said the fire service’s eight-wheel, all-terrain Argo Cat vehicle was also used.
They left the scene at 11.30pm.