‘It’s been very tough’: hope of progress in gruelling battle against south Wales wildfire
Efforts of emergency services and military in Blaenavon appear to be working but there are fears for the future M ore than three weeks after it began burning and two days after the military deployed to the area, there is hope that the huge wildfire on the hillside above the Ebbw valley village of Blaenavon may finally be coming under control. Emergency workers and soldiers described a gruelling battle against the deep-seated peat fire that has spread over 4,000 hectares (9,800 acres), putting lives, farmland and property at risk. At least 13 other fires have blazed across the valleys this weekend, prompting South Wales fire and rescue service to ask for military support – the first UK military deployment to deal with wildfires since 2018. Nationally, approximately 36 fires are still burning, 11 of which have been declared major incidents. Extreme heat and a lack of rain, supercharged by the climate crisis, have made this summer the busiest on record for wildfires in the UK, placing significant pressure on crews and resources.
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In Stoke-on-Trent, a man and woman have been arrested in connection to a fire that destroyed four homes, and a man in King’s Norton and another in east London have been arrested on suspicion of arson to endanger life. Small flames licked around the base of blackened trees a few metres away as they worked, while in another part of the woods several trees lit up quickly with no warning.
