Shocking helicopter footage has captured the heartbreaking scale of a huge grass fire which burned for more than seven hours in Wattsville, around eight miles outside Newport.
At 2.01pm on Wednesday (April 15), South Wales Fire and Rescue Service responded to reports of a large grass fire at the rear of Blackvein Industrial Estate.
Upon arrival, the crews were faced with a fire spreading quickly to affect 80 hectares of grassland and forestry.
Over the course of the seven hours that emergency services battled the fire, six fire engines, two specialist wildfire vehicles and a helicopter were deployed to the scene.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service worked in partnership with Gwent Police, Natural Resources Wales and the local authority to get the fire under control, with a stop message being received at 9.08pm.
Now, the fire service have released shocking helicopter footage detailing the heartbreaking scale of the fire.
This fire is just the latest in a series of emergencies after the Brecon Beacons was ravaged by deliberate fires over Easter weekend.
A spokesperson for the fire service said: "This was another difficult and challenging incident undertaken by partners over many hours to bring this fire under control.
"Emergency services remained at the scene until the evening dealing with small pockets of fire and smoke and to ensure the fire did not impact or effect the surrounding communities."
Incident commander, group manager Matt Jones, said: “We ask members of the public to pass on any information they may have which would can assist us in identifying the cause of this fire.
"Our crews from all over south Wales have been working in difficult, challenging conditions to ensure the fire does not spread and impact the local community and further damage the surrounding area and wildlife.
"Anyone who has information about the deliberate grass fires should contact 101 immediately, or they call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Anybody who sees a fire, or anyone starting a fire, should call 999 immediately."
