Deliberate fire set at derelict hospital

THESE images show the aftermath of a deliberate fire at a derelict hospital, which took firefighters three hours to put out.

The fire, which hit the old Mountain Ash Hospital on Thursday, destroyed much of the building.

The images were taken by local photographer Rhiannon-Kate Miles, who was at her grandmother’s home nearby when the fire started.

She described seeing “thick black smoke bellowing into the sky”, and added: “I was intrigued and curious to say the least so I went to see what it was.

“When I arrived there were crowds of children at the bottom of the hill to the hospital.”

The first 999 call about the fire at the old Mountain Ash Hospital was received at 3.20pm on Thursday. When the first crew from Aberdare arrived, they requested back-up and were joined by a team from Treharris.

As the fire got bigger, two further fire engines from Hirwaun and Merthyr were called to the scene.

Ms Miles said: “There was a family of four stood with me and my brother. They were in absolute awe of what was happening in front of their eyes.

“The firefighters were working so hard to extinguish the fire.

“The family of four I was speaking to were in amazement that only then it had been set alight considering it has been shut since 2011.

“How anyone could think that lighting a fire in those conditions was fun is beyond me.”

A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the fire took three hours to bring under control.

She said it had been “started deliberately” and that a large part of the disused building had been destroyed.

Fire crews remained at the scene until 10pm to make sure all of the hotspots had cooled.