UPDATE: 18.19pm

FIRECREWS are continuing to try to put out a blaze on a mountainside above Wattsville - and fire has also broken out on a neighbouring mountain, a couple of miles up the valley near Cwmfelinfach.

The Wattsville mountain fire was first reported on Wednesday afternoon and though firefighters believed they had extinguished it on a couple of occasions, it has restarted.

More than 25 acres of mature pine and bracken have been destroyed.

The position of the blaze, high up on the mountainside, means there has been no danger to villagers or property, but it is proving difficult to put out, with the continuing hot weather a factor.

Investigators have been combing the affected area to try to determine a cause, but no announcement has yet been made on their findings.

Crews have been tackling blaze hotspots on the ground, using an all-terrain vehicle to get around.

A Natural Resources Wales helicopter has been dousing the area with water from a nearby resevoir, but this has now been switched on helping tackle another blaze, on the mountain above Cwmfelinfach.

This is concentrated on gorse and grassland high on the mountain, but as this has grown to chest height in much of the affected area, the helicopter's dousing runs are currently the main means of fighting the blaze.

UPDATE: 2.57pm

The fires on the mountain above Wattsville are still burning this afernoon.

This is now the third day firefighters have had to tackle the wildfires, which have keep starting up again after being put out.

There are currently two fires, close together.

A helicopter from Natural Resources Wales was scrambled again this afternoon, shortly after 2pm, to drop water on to the fires which are currently so far up the steep mountainside they are inaccessible to ground crews.

This means the fires are at a safe distance from houses, although they are close to forestry.

A spokesman for South Wales Fire and Rescue said: "It’s nearer the top than previously so we’re trying to prevent it from getting any further." A crew from Cefn Fforest is at ground level, along with an officer from Aberdare.

 

FIRECREWs are again tackling a blaze on a mountain above Wattsville this morning.

A helicopter was again helping to fight the fires last night as this video sent in by reader Wayne Gibbon shows.