More gorse blazes cause problems

A fire in the Vale of Neath could be seen for miles. Enlarge Image

Firefighters have been at full stretch tackling gorse fires across Wales.

Crews were called to a large blaze near Abergele in Conwy, which was fanned by high winds, on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, dozens of firefighters were involved in dealing with a major gorse fire near Llanddewi Brefi in Ceredigion, which has now been put out.

Other fires in Bargoed, Caerphilly, and at Resolven, Neath Port Talbot were also fought. It is the latest set of blazes across Wales in recent weeks.

The Abergele blaze affected around 20,000 square metres at Llanfairtalhaiarn on a hillside known as Moel Unben.

Crews from Abergele, Conwy, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llanrwst, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Corwen and Llangollen were called in.

Paul Jenkinson from North Wales Fire Service said the weather conditions had not helped.

The grass is tinder dry - everything is tinder dry Mark Jones

"Unfortunately there was a strong easterly wind blowing it from east to west across the hillside," he said.

" We had to use three fire engines and six off-road vehicles to deal with it and obviously it has tied up a considerable amount of resources.

"I would take this opportunity to appeal to the public to be vigilant at this time of higher fire risk."

Fire crews from Dolgellau, Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog also tackled a fire on the outskirts of Trawsfynydd.

Dry weather has increased the risk of fire

Meanwhile, Mid and West Wales Fire Service said the gorse fire at Llanddewi Brefi had been "extensive".

A spokesman said they were alerted to the scene at 1115 BST on Monday and that 40 staff and nine appliances had been working on it.

Station manager Mark Jones said: "It's tricky enough anyway to extinguish this kind of fire but we had particularly strong winds that were swirling which made firefighting very very difficult."

"The grass is tinder dry - everything is tinder dry. We have had a period of rain but that unfortunately has done nothing to dampen down the conditions."

He said arson could have started the blaze, but that other factors could have been involved.

"It could be fractured glass in the grass - the rays of the sun can set that off, or a vehicle exhaust parked up against grass can set it off," he said.

"Arson is a possible but, in these circumstances, it is very difficult to tell."

Elsewhere, a blaze in Bargoed, south Wales was on four hectares of mountainside and affected power lines. Four fire engines from Bargoed, Cefyn Forest, Caerphilly, Abercarn attended the scene.

And in Glynneath, an estimated 40 hectares of grass and trees were alight, with five pumps and appliances were in attendance.