By Carl Butler
Daily Post (Liverpool, England)
Copyright 2006 Gale Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2006 MGN Ltd.
Fire crews were last night battling to bring a massive North Walesgorse fire under control.
More than 10,000 sq ms of the Clwydian range was affected by the blaze.
The searing dry weather was said to be the cause, with more scorching temperatures due in the days to come.
Full and part-time crews from ten stations were called in to work shifts and damp down the gorse to stop the fire spreading further.
The under-pressure service was also called out to deal with house fires, which left one man needing hospital treatment.
TVs on stand-by, food left cooking unattended and the lack of smoke alarms were all blamed.
North Wales Fire and Rescue called for householders to be vigilantand to fit smoke detectors.
Crews were first called to the gorse fire at Coedwig, Llangwyfan in Denbighshire on Thursday.
Crews were back on Saturday after reports the land was still smouldering.
And again yesterday at 7.50am crews from Mold, Denbigh, Llangollen, Ruthin, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Conwy, Porthmadog, Barmouth and Abergele were back at the scene working in shifts as there was no let up in the hot weather which has seen temperatures up around 26C.
The fire has 14 hotspots.
Although hot weather is thought to be responsible for keeping the fires smouldering, fire experts warned people to take extra care, especially with discarded cigarettes.
A man was taken to hospital with minor burns after a kitchen fire.
Fire fighters discovered there was no battery in a smoke alarm fitted to house in Ewloe Place, Buckley.
At nearly 4am yesterday a fire started in the kitchen, caused by adefective toaster.
Crews from Buckley and Deeside put out a fire which severely damaged the kitchen and smoke-damaged parts of the rest of the property. Aman suffered “superficial burns”.
A spokesman for the fire service said: “People living at the property had a very lucky escape.”
A smouldering cigarette caused a waste bin to catch fire in a rearbedroom at Walthew Avenue, Holyhead, at 11am on Saturday.
A smoke detector went off when the flames caught dressing gowns hanging from a door.
Two fire crews from Holyhead put out the fire which damaged the bedroom: smoke damaged the upper floor.
A wooden chalet at Bwlchtocyn near Pwllheli was completely destroyed after a chip pan left unattended set alight.
The call was received at 8.20pm on Saturday, and firefighters fromAbersoch and Pwllheli attended the incident.
At Johnstown near Wrexham a TV electrical fault caused extensive damage to the bedroom of a property and smoke damage to the remainder of the property.
And a Capel Curig home was smoke damaged on Saturday by a short circuit caused by the television being on stand-by mode.
Gareth Griffiths, County Safety Manager, said: “These two incidents send out a clear message that leaving the television on stand-by mode can pose a significant fire risk.”