Crews tackle 150 grass fires in seven days
FIREFIGHTERS have dealt with hundreds of grass fires in different parts of Wales in recent weeks, including more than 150 in just seven days.
Details obtained by the fire services that cover South, West and Mid Wales have revealed the scale of the challenge fire crews face as the country has recently enjoyed a period of warm and dry spring weather.
According to South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, its crews have responded to 100 deliberate grass fires in the space of the past week, a number that grows to 344 if you take into the account the past eight weeks.
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, meanwhile, has confirmed that its crews have attended almost 60 incidents within the space of just one week. According to the fire service, its crews responded to 57 incidents of grass fires between Monday of last week and Sunday.
The vast majority of those – 43 – were considered by the fire service to have been started deliberately.
In the South Wales Valleys, meanwhile, crews from Brynmawr were also in action over the weekend as they attended a grass fire in Blaina on Saturday afternoon.
The blaze, which took place on the banks of Cwmcelyn Pond, burned up a large area of grass in the picturesque area that is popular with walkers and fishers.
An eyewitness said: “We’ve had a guts’ full of deliberate fire damage like this being caused in our area and it really needs to be stopped. It’s left the banking scorched and in a terrible state now, and we also worry that in the future someone could get hurt.”
A spokesman for South Wales Fire and Rescue said: “At approximately 6.38pm on Saturday, we received reports of a grass fire in Cwmcelyn, Blaina.
“Crews from Brynmawr station attended the scene and extinguished the fire. The incident concluded at approximately 6.57pm.”