'It was 50-50 we would lose the house to wildfire'

A Herefordshire man said it was "50-50" his home would be swallowed up by a raging wildfire, and has praised the "incredible" firefighters who helped stop the blaze.

Tony Collier, who now lives at Hanter Hill, in Powys, just over the border in Wales, said the crews from Peterchurch, Llandrindod Wells and Kington had spent the last two days battling fires.

The flames were spotted at about midday on Wednesday, before they began advancing "faster than anyone could run".

Describing the scene on Thursday evening, Collier said: "It's heartbreaking to look at. One of the firefighters said it was like a volcano had gone off. The whole hill is black."

"We could see the flames racing down the hill towards us, and the way it was leaping from tree to tree... I'd say it was 50-50, at one stage, that the house was going to go," he added.

"Terrifying is the word. I was stood there with a bucket of water and I was thinking what do I do?

"Thank God we have the fire brigade, because what would you do otherwise."

Collier said crews from English and Welsh crews fought the flames all night, one crew remained on site for 16 consecutive hours.

"They were out all night. They're incredible and overworked. The Peterchurch crew, I think we were their third fire, and they were on their way back.

"They'd already put out two hill fires in Wales then they had to come to us, and spent most the night with us.

"The Llandrindod Wells crew were here all night, they left at seven in the morning.

"The Kington crew, they were here for 16 hours and now they're back on duty."

Collier said it made him feel "emotional" to think of the work the firefighters had done for him and his family.

"The work they've done, it's incredible...I have immense confidence in the abilities of the fire crews.

"Just to see them working, the teamwork and the sense of humour, they kept going."

Mid and West Wales Fire Service told the BBC it had been tackling a blaze about the size of "120 football pitches" - 90 hectares - in the Presteigne area on Thursday morning.

It added that crews were continuing to monitor hotspots at Hanter Hill.

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