A HELICOPTER drops 1,000 litres of water on a three-day wildfire yesterday — one of a spate to erupt amid the heatwave.
Up to 28 firefighters tackled it in the Rheidol valley above Aberystwyth, Mid Wales.
They dumped 20,000 litres on it, equal to 20 fire engine tankloads, earlier this week. Its cause remains unclear. But a man, 22, was held on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life over a moor inferno near Bolton.
Eighty firefighters were yesterday still at the blaze, which began on Thursday.
The council shut roads to keep out gawpers.
It is 30 miles from Saddleworth Moor, where a fire has raged since Sunday.
Crews cannot quench the Saddleworth blaze without rain, which forecasters say may be a week away. Prof Guillermo Rein, an Imperial College London fire expert, said it was fuelled by soil peat, which burns underground.
It means crews can for now only put out surface flames. But he warned that would unleash “an enormous amount of low-lying smoke”, threatening homes. He added: “Peat fires are the most persistent type of fire.”
Soldiers have joined firefighters in tackling it.
Locals blame the blaze, which scorched seven square miles, on off-road bikers. Cops warned swimmers over cooling down in large bodies of water after a man, 20, died in a Manchester reservoir.
He was pulled from the lake, where swimming is banned, after 20 minutes below the surface. He was declared dead in hospital.
Police said: “It’s not an area where swimming is permitted, given risks to life.
“During the hot weather, be aware of dangers of swimming in deep lakes.”
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Small dog locked inside a hot truck desperately honks vehicle's horn after being trapped for 40 minutesAnd three traffic wardens broke into a car to rescue a border collie trapped for three hours at 28C. One, Kevin Sumner, 31, said: “The dog didn’t respond at first.
“But he lifted his head. We squirted water in his mouth. The RSPCA came an hour later. They said had we left him, he might have died.” The owner returned to the Wigan car park irate.
Kevin said: “I was happy to tell him he didn’t have a dead dog.” The RSPCA said: “The pet’s in our care and well. We’re investigating.”
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