Wildfire expected to spread due to heatwave as 36 homes evacuated

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Thirty-six homes have been evacuated after a major incident was declared following a wildfire in north Wales.

The blaze broke out near Conwy Mountain and the Sychnant Pass in Conwy county on Sunday.

About 200 acres of land have been affected, and one family who were forced to flee their home said the fire reached their driveway.

"The sound was worse than anything. It was so loud, the crackling. You could hear it coming down the mountain," said resident Ben Campbell.

Assistant chief fire officer Anthony Jones for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was expected to spread on Monday because of the heatwave, with people living advised to keep windows and doors shut.

At the height of the wildfire, there was a fire front of about 1.6km (0.4miles), Jones added.

In an update on Monday morning, the fire service said no further evacuations were needed but it was too early to say when residents evacuated from the Capelulo area would be able to return home.

Sychnant Pass Road and Old Conway Road remain closed.

Michelle Campbell, 44, her husband Ben, 46, and their three sons fled their home in Capelulo, which is near the mountain, as the fire reached their property.

Ben Campbell said he received a missed call at 04:30, but 30 minutes later a neighbour banged on their door and said: "The mountain's on fire above your house."

Sychnant Pass wildfire

The couple and their three boys - aged three, seven and eight - fled to a nearby holiday rental they own but the fire kept spreading.

They are now refuge 30 miles away on Anglesey.

The couple said a river runs near their home, and fire crews are using it to pump water to fight the fire.

"It was really scary," Michelle Campbell added.

Ysgol Pencae in Penmaenmawr and Ysgol Capelulo confirmed they were closed on Monday due to the wildfire.

Elsewhere, wildfires burned in County Durham, Derbyshire, East Sussex, West Sussex, Devon and Somerset over the weekend, with a warning that parts of the country were facing an "exceptional" fire risk.

In Capelulo, resident Rita Raweily was woken up in the early hours of Sunday by her dog "barking wildly".

"I got ready, threw some clothes on and went to see if there was anything I could do to help," she added.

The volunteer community coordinator said there was a smell of burning in the air that got worse as the wind picked up and that the area was "really smoky".

"That whole area near the house is an evacuation zone and we don't know when we are going home," she said.

"But that's fine because we are safe."

Raweily said she had "no idea" what condition her house was in but she hoped "all will be well".

She praised the "brilliant" emergency services, adding: "Houses can be replaced, people can't."

Speaking to Radio Wales Breakfast , ex-firefighter Tim Lloyd, who also lives in Capelulo village, said it was "engulfed in smoke" on Sunday.

"The view behind where I live, we can see the mountain, but we couldn't see that yesterday, it was completely disappeared in the smoke," he said.

He said the firefighters would be battling heat exhaustion in "absolutely punishing" conditons.

"They're wearing really thick heavy clothing fire kit, which protects them from the fire but the but the negative impact of that is that is they're sort of insulated from being able to get heat out of their bodies.

"There's all sorts of things to consider, but the main concern and their main focus is on an incident such as this one is always initially to protect people and then to protect property, which they've done a fantastic job here," he said.

Cathy Augustine, county councillor for Penmaenmawr, said of the area: "Not only is it very beautiful for us but it's also really difficult terrain for the firefighters to work in, as well as being home to important wildlife."

She said volunteers had been caring for wild ponies.

Further grass fires broke out over the weekend on Halkyn Mountain, Flintshire, and Braichmelyn Forest in Bethesda, Gwynedd.

Firefighters remain in attendance at Braichmelyn Forestry, Bethesda, while incidents in the Brynford and Harlech areas are being re-inspected this morning.

It comes as most of Wales is deemed to be of "very high risk" of wildfires in the coming days.

Forecasters have said parts of the country will remain extremely hot and dry in the coming days as the country swelters in the third heatwave of the year.

Additional reporting by Nicholas Bourne and Oscar Edwards