Twmbarlwm blaze still burning
Twmbarlwm blaze still burning
28 May 2010
published by www.southwalesargus.co.uk
United Kingdom — Firefighters are continuing to tackle a large grass fire in Risca three days after it broke out.
The blaze started on Twmbarlwm Mountain on Wednesday morning, covering more than five acres of land, and firefighters will return to the site today because patches of grass are still hot.
After receiving a call shortly before 9.30am on Wednesday, more than 20 firefighters from four crews, which travelled from Cwmbran, Abercarn, Risca and Duffryn, tackled the blaze for almost three hours.
Firefighters have been returning to the site every few hours since to deal with hot spots, which are still alight, and will continue to do so until the fire has burnt itself out.
A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said investigations into the cause of the fire were continuing.
Between March 1 and April 22, a total of 738 grass fires were started in Gwent, the majority of which were started deliberately.
Fire chiefs warned people who are setting these fires that they were putting lives in danger and said the fire service planned to join forces with police and other partners to crackdown on arsonists in the area.
There were 355 in Caerphilly, 223 in Blaenau Gwent 105 in Newport, 47 in Torfaen and eight in Monmouthshire.
The average cost of dealing with each fire was £1,970. The figures for grass fires in May will be released next week.
