Holiday gorse fires 'devastating'

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said they had been called to more than 300 incidents and that the vast majority were started deliberately.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it had attended 96 gorse and forest fires over the last few days.

Mid and West Wales Fire Service also tackled seven separate gorse fires.

A large concentration of gorse fires on Monday were in the Rhondda area and a Forestry Commission helicopter was being used to drop water on the flames.

South Wales Fire Service said they were all started deliberately.

Tackle

Fire crews say that as well as being an enormous drain on resources, they have a devastating affect on the environment.

South Wales Fire Service have seen their calls increase tenfold since the start of April, as they battle against a rising number of grass fires.

Crews had 3000 calls, many over grass fires during the first six days of April, said the service's Mike Flanagan.

He appealed directly to youngsters, who he said were largely responsible for are setting the fires, not to do so.

In north Wales, 11 fire crews were called to tackle fires at Talsarnau and Maentwrog in Gwynedd over the weekend.

The blaze at Talsarnau, which spread to a nearby nature reserve, was brought under control after six hours on Sunday.

The second blaze, at Tan y Bwlch in Maentwrog, reignited several times over the weekend and again on Monday.

Mid and West Wales Fire Service tackled seven gorse fires on Monday.

The largest was at Cellan near Lampeter where strong winds were fanning the flames. Three fire engines were in attendance.

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North Wales Fire and Rescue Services
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