Warning as woodland and grass blazes ravage mountainsides
THIS is the damage caused by one of the many woodland and grass fires that have torn through south Wales over recent days.
Images of the smouldering remains of part of the woods on Machen Mountain, between Caerphilly and Newport, were captured yesterday.
Over the weekend fire crews tackled the blaze in Caerphilly county, as helicopters dropped thousands of gallons of water on the area.
Eight fire crews had worked tirelessly at the scene of the fire, which was estimated on Saturday night to have affected 11 hectares (almost 30 acres) of mountainside.
The incidents prompted the fire service to issue a warning, saying grass fires were “irresponsible and unacceptable” and calling on members of the public to “avoid putting further strain on Wales’ emergency services” at a time of increased pressure.
Gwent Police also said they had been called to a number of grass fires in Torfaen, Caerphilly and Blaenau
Gwent over the past week.
Officers said on social media that they had been working with South Wales Fire & Rescue Service to use drones to increase patrols in the area following multiple incidents.
“Several deliberate grass fires have been reported yesterday in the Torfaen, Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent areas,” they said.
“To help deter and detect this activity we have been supporting South Wales Fire and Rescue Service today with patrols of identified areas utilising drone technology.”
In a separate incident, footage emerged yesterday of flames and a large explosion which could be heard across Tredegar on Sunday night as a garage caught fire in the Blaenau Gwent village of Georgetown.
The incident happened at around 9pm in Vale Terrace, and was the result of a fire in a garden garage that caused huge flames to leap above the houses.
While it is unclear how the fire started, it is understood no-one was hurt.
Julie Morgan Harvey saw the fire from her window only a few hundred yards away and captured footage of the blaze on her phone.
She said: “It was around 9pm when I was going upstairs to close the blinds that I spotted the fire through my window.
“The flames were very high and there was a loud bang as well. Fire
engines were there within about five minutes to put it out, however, and we were glad to hear that nobody was hurt.”
Another witness said: “We don’t know what caused the fire, but the main thing is that nobody was hurt by the incident, and hopefully the cost of the damage won’t be too much either.”
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said crews from Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr station attended and safely extinguished the fire by 10.50pm.
Meanwhile, another fire has scarred the mountainside at Llanwonno, near Mountain Ash.
People living locally were urged to stay indoors and keep windows shut after Sunday’s grass fire between the Rhondda and Cynon valleys sent smoke billowing across the sky.
South Wales Fire & Rescue Service advised people in the Tylorstown area to take precautions following the fire, which broke out in Llanwonno shortly after 9am.