Emergency services plea to reduce demand

DESPITE the burning season ending, emergency services continue to be "tied up" by unnecessary incidents.

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were forced to send three crews to Cefn, St Asaph for more than two hours to deal with the burning of woodland.

The burning season ends on March 31 every year. However the fire service had also issued a plea to landowners and farmers to hold back from burning for the final days of the season to free up resources during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson for fire said: "We were called to a fire in the open on Tuesday, April 7 at 4.45pm, involving the controlled burning of 10 square metres of woodland.

"We sent two crews from Abergele and one crew from St Asaph. The fire was under control by 7.09pm.

"The burning season over, and we've tied up three crews for almost three hours for something that is completely unnecessary.

"It's all about reducing demand on our resources, so we urge people again not to take part in controlled burning."

A crew of four firefighters was also called to a similar incident on the same day in Abergele, involving the burning of rubbish near Glanrafon. An ambulance was also in attendance.

The spokesperson added: "We were called to an incident at 4.17pm involving a quantity of rubbish on fire that had spread to a dwelling.

"We called a stop at 4.56pm, The cause of the fire is unknown."

The Welsh Ambulance Service has been approached for comment.