Rise in 'deliberate' grass fires

This fire above Port Talbot came close to nearby housing

Firefighters across Wales have attended nearly 1,500 grass and gorse fires in the last month, with about 80% started deliberately.

In north Wales, the number of grass fires jumped from 62 in the last three weeks of June to 444 in the same period in July.

North Wales Fire Service said 209 of those fires were started deliberately causing a "drain on resources".

In south Wales there were 570 grass fires and in mid and west Wales 429.

In the recent heat wave, there has been a spate of fires across Wales on open land, some burning for up to six days before firefighters could bring them under control.

Police had to evacuate homes in Aberavon, south Wales, last Thursday night after a gorse fire on a hill above the town came close to houses.

In the latest outbreak, Mid and West Wales fire service said it spent 12 hours on Wednesday dealing with a grass fire on the coast at Ragwen Point near Pendine in Carmarthenshire.

County commander Gethin Davies said: "We have experienced a rise in grass and forestry fires in the past few weeks. Fighting these fires is an arduous exhausting process. Our fire kit is heavy and you get warm very quickly when wearing it."

The Mid and West Wales service attended nearly 1,400 deliberately-started grassland fires over the last year, which cost £2.3m to deal with.

Jane Honey, North Wales Fire Service's arson reduction manager, has urged anyone with knowledge of people who start fires to report them to their local police station or Crimestoppers.

She said: "Deliberate fire starting causes the risk of injury to the fire setter, and also the risk of injury and death to the general public who may attempt to extinguish the fire, and the firefighters who attend the incident.

"It also causes a drain on resources.

"When crews are called to attend life critical incidents such as house fires and road traffic collisions, appliances are not diverted from a deliberate fire, they are the next available fire appliance.

"This may involve a time delay which could prove fatal."

She added fires could damage the landscape which provided a major draw for tourists to the area.

South Wales Fire Service, which was called out to 2,707 grass fires between the start of April until 28 July, is working alongside the police in an effort to cut the number of fires.

Spokeswoman Claire Morgans said: "We're engaging with South Wales Police to do fly-bys in their helicopter throughout the summer holidays so if they spot anybody starting fires then it's easier for us to catch [the fires] early and also for the police to catch the people who start them."

She added they hoped the police presence would also act as a deterrent to any potential fire starters.

South Wales Fire Service said in their area, figures showed an average of 97% of grass and gorse fires were started deliberately.