Llangollen mountain fire: Questions raised over response to huge blaze

Residents and business owners from communities near the blaze, which devastated around 60 acres of grassland in the area, have said the fire could have been extinguished within 10 days had authorities been willing to accept offers of help from nearby farmers.

The management of the fire by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Denbighshire County Council (DCC) was questioned by residents at a public meeting organised by Martyn Holland, councillor for Llanarmon-yn-Iâl and Llandegla on Monday.

Cllr Holland has already called for an emergency meeting with Denbighshire highways, senior officers and county councillors, as well as a further meeting with NRW, the fire service and DCC. County councillors Graham Timms and Melvyn Miles have called for a scrunity committee with the backing of Cllr Holland.

At the public meeting, Cllr Holland said that during the fire he was unaware of any offer made by the farming community to help authorities and that the decision-making process in refusing those offers needs to be investigated.

He said: “The fire has had a massive impact on the area’s wildlife, livestock, tourism, business, residents, graziers, and potentially to property and life.

“There is a feeling of isolation, that the community is not supported and that this could happen again.

"If an offer was made for services I do not understand why that would have been turned down. That is something that the scrutiny committee will have to consider.”

Cllr Holland said the decision-making process by NRW, the fire service and the county council would be “scrutinised very closely”.

“We will look at the lessons that can be learned,” he added.

Stuart Davies, former county councillor and mayor of Llangollen, has been critical of NRW’s prevention of farmers carrying out controlled fires on the grasslands, which can help to prevent more serious longgrass fires from occurring.

He said: “My farmer friends who offered their services are afraid to speak out against NRW.

“The fire could have been stopped within two to 10 days by cutting fire breaks. But this required the approval of NRW, which was not given.

“If controlled fires were carried out like they used to be then this would not have happened at all.

“NRW says they want to protect the black grouse there by stopping controlled fires and cutting fire breaks, but this has proven to be the wrong approach.”

Mr Davies said that he was told by the fire service a full response was not possible due to “financial considerations”, adding: “This is an issue for the fire commanders to address, not the firefighters.

“While all this is going on, there remains a real danger of another fire starting east of the Horseshoe Pass towards Penycae. Fire breaks need to be cut there immediately,” he said.

It is understood that about six farmers offered their services to the authorities, but all wish to remain anonymous.

A nearby farmer, who asked not to be named, said: “Any offers made were turned down.

“We had people mobilised and ready. We could have provided 3,000 gallons of water every ten minutes.

“It was not until the last days that large amounts of water were being pumped onto the fire.

“They were blinkered in what resources to call upon.”

Paul Williams, chairman of NFU Cymru Clwyd County said: “Local farmers were obviously keen to help in any way possible to assist the fire crews involved.

“It seems that their genuine offer of help was not required nor welcomed.”

Mr Williams noted the “tireless work of local firefighting crews, working extra-long shifts” but that while the “differences of opinion” between farmers and decision-makers continued, “more and more habitat was being lost”.

The delayed response from the authorities has fuelled concerns over the value of the site to authorities, as it was not until the fire closed in on properties that significant action was taken.

Sam Clemence, co-owner of Ponderosa Café that had to be evacuated during the wildfire, felt there was a disconnect between firefighters on the ground and those in charge who were “happy to let it burn”. “The firefighters wanted to get on the moor and put the fire out but they were told otherwise,” he added.

One resident commented that “firefighters didn’t put the fire out, it put itself out”.

Concerns were also raised that there was a lack of communication from the fire service to residents.

In response to comments made at the meeting, Stuart Millington, senior operations manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “At large scale grass and gorse fires NWFRS work in partnership with our colleagues in NRW and consider a variety of short, medium and longterm implications before implementing a tactical plan that seeks to resolve these incidents.

“This did include some work to cut fire breaks in strategic locations. Whilst we are grateful for the offer of help from local farmers, resources provided to implement this tactical plan and cut any firebreaks were provided by our partners and were considered to be sufficient."

Addressing concerns over the lack of communication with residents, Mr Millington said: “During any large scale incident it is very difficult to maintain regular face to face updates for all the people who are affected, however during this period we did utilise social media, as well as radio and TV interviews to provide regular updates as to the progress of the incident.

“The scale of operations and the efforts required to bring this type of incident under control should not be underestimated and I would like to commend our firefighters for working extremely hard, for extended periods, during excessively high temperatures and over arduous terrain.”

A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said: “The council was aware of the meeting which was arranged by one of our councillors to gather feedback on the incident from local residents.

"It is inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.

"While we continue to work with our partners to monitor and manage hotspots we would urge people to avoid the mountain other than marked footpaths.”

Dawn Beech, acting operations manager for North East Wales at NRW, said: “Mynydd Llantysilio is really important to both people and wildlife. It is home to rare birds like the black grouse, provides grazing areas for local farmers and is popular with walkers.

“We have worked with Denbighshire countryside service, RSPB and farmers over recent years to cut heather for the grouse, to improve grazing areas for sheep and to help reduce fire risk.

“During the fire, our staff worked with NWFRS and Denbighshire Countryside Services to cut back vegetation and create fire breaks to try and stop the fire spreading.

“Approximately half the mountain was burnt and the peatland areas have been particularly badly affected. NWFRS remain on site monitoring the area.

“When we have confirmation the fires are out we will carry out a full survey of the mountain to see how we can help the area recover.

“We’ll be working with the other organisations involved to carry out a review of our response.”