THE battle to extinguish large grass fires on a mountain above Cwmcarn continued yesterday with crews from as far away as Cardiff in attendance.

A spokesperson from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed crews from Aberbargoed, Duffryn, New Inn, Blaenavon, Roath and Caerphilly were at the scene of the blaze on Twmbarlwm on Tuesday morning.

The service’s chief fire officer, Huw Jakeway, said: “I am immensely proud of our operational crews and joint control room staff for their continued efforts.

“As always, they have shown great professionalism in dealing with these very complex incidents and I want to thank them on behalf of all at SWFRS.

“I know our crews would also wish me to thank the many people who have offered refreshments to them while they have worked.

“As a service we remain very proud to protect the communities we serve and this support has been really appreciated.”

The Argus previously reported how firefighters had shared online messages of thanks to people who had given bottles of water and fizzy drinks to fire crews tackling the Twmbarlwm fire.

The fire service echoed those sentiments in a statement, saying “the ongoing support and offers of refreshments from the community, during this time are highly appreciated by all our crews. Thank you everyone.”

However, for safety reasons, the fire service said: “Due to the risk associated with fire and smoke we would ask member of the public to please refrain from attending any ongoing incidents to avoid harm or injury.”

The fire service also paid tribute to the crews and support staff who have had to respond to a series of large fires across Gwent recently.

“Over the past few weeks we have been dealing with a large number of incidents relating to the current weather conditions and our operational firefighters and Joint Control Room staff are working extremely hard during this challenging time.

“We would like to thank them all for their continued efforts to keep our communities safe.

“Grass fires impact our communities across Wales and draw fundamental and valuable resources away from our communities, placing unnecessary risk on lives.”

The fire service said it would continue to work with partners, like the Dawns Glaw project, and communities to highlight the consequences and impact of grass fires on Wales.

Popular hiking and cycling routes through the Cwmcarn Forest have been closed while fire crews fight the blaze.

A spokesperson from Caerphilly County Council, which maintains the forest routes, said: “The bike trails and walking trails remain closed, but the visitor centre and area around the lake on the valley floor are unaffected and are open as usual.”

With forecasters expecting warm temperatures to continue for at least the next week, the fire service has asked people to avoid the temptation to have a summer barbecue for fear of more fires spreading.

“Please refrain from the use of any open flame fires or barbecues at this time due to the risk of fires starting and spreading due to the increased warm and dry weather”, the service said in a statement.