A SENIOR officer at North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) thanked staff for their efforts and issued an appeal to help prevent future incidents following a busy weekend attending wildfires.
Between 8am on Friday morning (March 25) and 8pm on Sunday evening (March 27), control room staff from NWFRS dealt with 364 calls; 31 of these were fires in the open.
The most serious wildfires were as follows:
• Llyn Celyn, Gwynedd (12.30pm, March 25) – eight appliances, one-off road vehicle, one incident command unit and one helicopter were in attendance. Stop received: 8.38am, March 27.
• Rhiw, Gwynedd (10.54am, March 26) – three appliances and one wildfire vehicle were in attendance. Stop received: 5.41pm, March 26.
• Mynydd Nefyn, Gwynedd (7pm, March 26) – three appliances, three Pinzgauer appliances and one wildfire unit were in attendance. Stop received: 5.41pm, March 27.
• Tanygrisiau, Gwynedd (12.12pm, March 27) – 10 appliances, two off-road vehicles, one wildfire vehicle and one incident command unit were in attendance. Stop received: 10.46am, March 28.
• Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd (1.41pm, March 27) – five appliances, one off-road vehicle and one wildfire vehicle were in attendance. Stop received: 12.45pm, March 28.
• Llyn Elsi, Betws-y-Coed (2.33pm, March 27) – three appliances were in attendance. Stop received: 7.29pm, March 27.
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Paul Scott, senior fire safety manager for NWFRS, said: “I witnessed first hand the professionalism, commitment and resilience of our staff over this busy weekend period as I attended these devastating wildfires across South Gwynedd and into Conwy.
“During a seven-hour period over Sunday afternoon, we experienced three serious wildfires running simultaneously – a fire in the open in Tanygrisiau involving 10 appliances, one involving five appliances in Trawsfynnydd and another involving three appliances at Llyn Elsi, Betws-y-Coed.
“In addition to this, two crews were also needed to attend a kitchen fire in Wrexham.
“Thankfully, the flexibility and commitment of staff on the ground and our control room staff meant that we could attend all these incidents and help keep our communities safe.
“However, our resources should not be stretched like this – these fires were completely unavoidable.
“My message is clear – please do not burn unless you really need to.
“If you do need to burn before the end of the upland burning season on Thursday, please ensure that you have a burn plan in place, you have adequate resources in place to control the fire and that you notify our control room on 01931 522 006.
“Also, while accidents can happen, there are some within our communities who are deliberately setting fire to our countryside – this is a crime for which they will be prosecuted.
“If you are out enjoying the countryside and you do come across any suspicious activity, please call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or ring 101. In an emergency, always call 999.”
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