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© Roger VinceMid and West Wales fire crews were called into action to tackle a blaze on the Black Mountain at 7pm on Saturday. The service has faced 200 grass fires during the month of April.
The latest grass fire to strike the Amman Valley raged for more than five hours on the Black Mountain on Saturday night before being brought under control by emergency crews.

Amman Valley firefighters based at Gwaun cae Gurwen were called to tackle the blaze, which began above Cwmgarw Road on the Black Mountain, following reports of the fire at 7pm.

The incident is just the latest in what has become an ever increasing problem for emergency services.

As well as taking up time and manpower, the grass fires are also proving a massive drain on financial resources.

In the month of April alone, Mid and West Fire Service were called in to deal with 282 grass fires at a cost though to be approaching £1,000,000.

The cause of the blaze, which started near Upper Brynaman, is yet to be confirmed and no serious damage was done despite early concerns that the flames were moving towards a residential cottage.

Crews attended the scene and were able to extinguish the fire at midnight, however the incident was just the latest in a worrying trend which is only likely to worsen as summer approaches.

Mid and West Wales arson reduction team manager Steve Richards "Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service has attended a total of 282 grass fires since the beginning of April alone. We are working closely with the police to actively target areas where deliberate fires are a nuisance."