{"id":1103552,"date":"2026-07-22T00:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1103552\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T00:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:12:18","slug":"firefighters-still-battling-wildfire-and-issues-warning-to-two-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1103552\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefighters still battling wildfire and issues warning to two communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Firefighters are still battling the wildfire<\/p>\n

22:25, 21 Jul 2026Updated 22:27, 21 Jul 2026<\/p>\n

Drone footage captures Blaenavon wildfire<\/p>\n

Fire crews are continuing to battle a wildfire the size of hundreds of football pitches as people from across South Wales are impacted by smoke despite being tens of miles away. Firefighters have been trying to bring a “significant wildfire” in Blaenavon under control since Sunday evening.<\/p>\n

After a change in wind direction on Monday night, communities across south Wales woke up to the smell of smoke on Tuesday as a result of the fire. The fire service warned those in affected areas, including Caerphilly, Cardiff and Newport, to shut their windows and doors.<\/p>\n

In an update on Tuesday evening, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) said the fire was “now covering more than 200 hectares”, the equivalent of around 300 football pitches. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here<\/a><\/p>\n

It warned two communities – Nantyglo and Brynmawr – that they are likely to be affected by smoke as the evening continues. The fire service is reminding anyone impacted by the smoke to close their windows and doors until it disperses.<\/p>\n

\"Wildfire<\/p>\n

A significant wildfire has been burning in Blaenavon since Sunday evening(Image: John Myers)<\/p>\n

Drone footage taken on Tuesday revealed the extent of the wildfire, with the blaze destroying a huge area across mixed land including fern, gorse and bracken. In its latest update, the fire service said its crews were battling a 5km front.<\/p>\n

It added that crews had been working in \u201cchallenging conditions\u201d because of the terrain, access and wind conditions.<\/p>\n

The latest statement from the fire service reads: “SWFRS is utilising a range of specialist tactics to deal with the significant wildfire which is ongoing in Blaenavon. Now covering more than 200 hectares, the fire is across mixed land including fern, gorse and bracken, with a 5km perimeter.<\/p>\n

“Specialist officers are using tactical burns to manage the spread of the wildfire and with the support of local farmers, cutting fire breaks. Other equipment being used includes 4×4 vehicles, drones and i-cutters to manage the vegetation.<\/p>\n

\"Wildfire\"<\/p>\n

Smoke from the fire has been smelt across south Wales (Image: John Myers)<\/p>\n

“Smoke from the incident has been significant at times, and the current wind direction is likely to see communities towards Nant-y-Glo and Brynmawr affected this evening. SWFRS is advising anyone impacted to close their windows and doors until the smoke disperses.<\/p>\n

“SWFRS would like to thank partner agencies for their co-operation and support during this incident, including Natural Resources Wales, Public Health Wales, local authorities, local health boards and police. We are all working together to bring this incident to a close.”<\/p>\n

The fire service has urged people to stay away from the area to allow emergency crews to continue their work safely. It has also asked the public not to call 999 simply to report the smell or sight of smoke unless they believe they have spotted a separate fire.<\/p>\n

The wildfire remains ongoing.<\/p>\n

Get daily breaking news<\/strong> updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here<\/a>. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Firefighters are still battling the wildfire 22:25, 21 Jul 2026Updated 22:27, 21 Jul 2026 Drone footage captures Blaenavon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1103553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5010],"tags":[247879,748,12264,4884,88791,42722,16,15,1764],"class_list":["post-1103552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wales","tag-blaenavon","tag-britain","tag-fires","tag-great-britain","tag-south-wales-fire-service","tag-torfaen","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116960740728136446","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1103552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1103552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1103553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1103552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1103552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1103552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}