Llantysilio Fire
The Countryside Rangers have been busy this Summer supporting the Fire and Rescue Service to tackle the fire on the Horseshoe Pass. The fire which broke out on the 14th July eventually burned for nearly 8 weeks and spread over half of the Llantysilio mountain range taking with it important habitat and grazing. The Horseshoe Pass was closed for weeks as the path of the fire moved towards the road and at its height there was real concern for the safety of properties close to the mountain.
The ground was so dry and the fire burned with such intensity that it got into the peaty soils and continued to burn in the ground long after the vegetation was gone. The smoke could be smelt from 20 miles away as the mountain eerily continued to smoke and burn long after the flames had gone from the surface.
The size of the blaze brought in fire crews from all over North Wales with over 60 fighters spread across the mountain tackling the fire on many fronts around the clock.
Our Ranger Service have specialist fire-fighting equipment which we use for traditional controlled burning of heather moorlands in the Winter so immediately made this equipment available for this incident and were able to work alongside the Fire Service to tackle areas of the fire, arrange for fire breaks to be cut and advise on access to key areas of the mountain.
It will be next year before the full extent of the damage will be clear but it is likely that as the fire burned for so long and with such intensity that the seed bank will have been damaged. It may be in some areas that the heather and bilberry will not come back for years, leaving bracken and gorse to move in. The Mountain is designated a Special Area of Conservation which means it is internationally important habitat. It is home to some of our rarest breeding birds – black grouse, Curlew, red grouse. Time will tell the impact it has had on the populations of these bird species on the mountain.