Machen mountain blaze burns for fourth day

People are feeling "a lot of anxiety" as a mountain fire continues to burn for a fourth day.

The blaze on Machen mountain near Caerphilly was one of around 80 started deliberately across south Wales, with 100 breaking out in the last 24 hours.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) said crews had to retreat from one fire overnight as the terrain was too dangerous to work on in the dark.

Crews in north Wales have also tackled a fire on the Great Orme in Llandudno.

Firefighters are returning again to the scene in Miskin, Mountain Ash in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

On Monday night people living in Machen were advised to close doors and windows in the area because of smoke.

The flames have moved closer to homes although none were evacuated, the fire service said.

Machen resident Ben Cottam told BBC Radio Wales the last few days had been hugely concerning for villagers.

"The whole of the mountain is smoking," he said.

"At the back of the house we can see the fire is still smouldering - the helicopter started dousing the fire again this morning.

"The fire crews have been absolutely immense."

"It was only when darkness fell you realised how much of it was still alight," he added.

"It's quite sobering when you look out the window and see a fire that size not far away from houses.

"It's been a very busy, concerning few days for residents in Machen."

He said the community had rallied round to buy the fire crews pizza and drinks.

"There was a lot of anxiety," he added. "It's very, very sad to see what happened - it's an important habitat up there."

Up to 50 firefighters at a time were tackling the blaze across 50 hectares (123 acres) of land on Machen mountain.

Jason Evans, SWFRS head of risk reduction, said the last few days had been a particularly challenging period.

"The last 24 hours in the south Wales area have been particularly busy and challenging for the service," he said.

"We've had over 100 wildfire incidents. They've been very resource intensive for our crews on the ground but also our control room staff in particular.

"The fires are very visible on our valleys hillsides so the control room have taken a huge volume of calls - in the last 24 hours 500 calls."

Alongside the service's firefighting vehicles, including a helicopter, engines and off-road vehicles, Natural Resources Wales has also provided heavy plant machinery to create firebreaks to stop the fire spreading down the mountain.

A spokeswoman said: "The impact of grass fires is devastating on the environment, killing animals and destroying wildlife habitat as we have already seen in multiple areas across south Wales."

Sgt Andy Jones from South Wales Police, said: "Sadly, over the weekend we lost many acres of our beautiful landscape to deliberate grassfires.

"Every grassfire poses a serious risk to the public and to property and the emergency services are doing everything they can to tackle this issue."

The force is appealing for information to find the culprits.

Sgt Jones said: "Our officers are patrolling every day and they are making use of drones, CCTV equipment and bikes to cover as much ground as they can. But they cannot be everywhere at once.

"The onus is upon the public. My plea is for everyone to make a stand now, to prevent further damage and to avoid a potential tragedy which could be just one grassfire away."