A huge fire spread over a Snowdonia peak with devastated onlookers saying the blaze looked like "something you would see in the Lord of the Rings". The blaze took hold on Foel Dduarth in Gwynedd on Monday, November 14,and could be seen as far away as Anglesey.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service attended the mountain at around 2.32pm yesterday and remained at the scene last night. A nearby farmer, who is also the chairman of a local graziers’ association, said the peak had been "completely devastated" by the inferno.
Speaking to North Wales Live Gareth Wyn Jones said: “It looks like something you would see in the Lord of the Rings, it’s so big and fast-moving,” he said. “The whole of the mountain has gone, it’s completely devastated.
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“In all my years I’ve never seen a fire move so fast. It’s just unbelievable. We’ll have to wait until the morning to find out if it’s spread to other mountains nearby.”
Only when the blaze is finally extinguished can the fire service begin investigating a potential cause. On social media there has been speculation it resulted from controlled burning but this theory was firmly rejected by Gareth.
“The mountain is in an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), so burning is not allowed there. It may have been an accident, arson or an act of God.“An accident, such as a discarded cigarette, is another possibility, as the area is heavily walked. But the mountains are so wet at this time of year it’s hard to see how it could have caught hold.”
The blaze could be seen for miles around. One resident in Benllech, on the northeast corner of Anglesey, got a shock when catching sight of the fire through his partner’s French windows.
John Riley was just getting ready for a gym visit when he saw the inferno. “I grabbed my camera because it looked pretty massive,” he said. “The fire must have been 10-15 miles away but we could clearly see it.
“I’d estimate the line of fire was about one-and-a-half miles long. It looked like the whole side of a mountain was on fire.”
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