Abertridwr residents on grass fire that threatened homes

The blaze covered an area equivalent to 16 football pitches, destroying trees and creating thick, black smoke that forced locals to take cover inside, closing all doors and windows.

It took firefighters several hours to get the flames under control on the hillside in Abertridwr, Caerphilly county borough, on Monday evening. Residents watched on as crews battled the blaze, eventually halting it before it reached their homes.

"It was five feet away from the fence," resident Julie told the Argus. "The whole mountain was on fire. It was quite scary actually."   

Another resident, whose property backs onto the hillside and who spent Monday evening watching on as the flames got ever nearer, said the dry bracken there had acted "like a giant firelighter".

Sadly, there was also a sense of resignation that Monday's fire was an inevitability given the area's long-standing problems with grass fires in hot or dry weather.

The fire swept close to homes as it spread across the hillside in Abertridwr.

Residents said there were similar incidents on the same hillside every few years, and this most recent Abertridwr blaze was one of several in South Wales this week.

The region's fire service could not comment on whether this Abertridwr incident was being treated as deliberate, but the fire prompted the service earlier this week to condemn anyone starting grass fires.

Speaking on Friday, John Treherne, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service group manager, said: "This large, well-developed grass fire covered approximately 12 hectares and was in close proximity to residential properties.

"Without the swift actions and intervention of our crews, the outcome could have been very different. Wildfires destroy our countryside and have a detrimental effect on wildlife, ecology and the environment."

The fire service typically deals with more than 5,000 deliberate blazes each year, including grass fires.

Firefighters' vehicles at the scene of the fire in Abertridwr. Picture: Leigh Curtis

And in a typical year, firefighters have to deal with hundreds of deliberate grass fires in Gwent alone. Last year, there were 158 such incidents in Caerphilly county borough, as well as 58 in Torfaen, 54 in Blaenau Gwent, 53 in Newport, and 22 in Monmouthshire.

In Abertridwr this week, no people or property was affected directly by the fire, but resident Julie said the effect on local wildlife would have been devastating.

Trees which survived the fire in Abertridwr bear scorch marks from the flames.

"There were birds nesting there," she said. "And when the trees were alight, the birds were staying with their nests until the last minute. All those nests gone - it's horrible."

Anyone who has any information on grass fires or sees anything suspicious should call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Anyone who sees a grass fire or anyone starting a grass fire should call 999 immediately.