News

Ambulance ‘delay’ as infant dies in fire

Published

11 years ago

June 27, 2014

AN INTERNAL inquiry is being conducted by the Ambulance Service into a gross delay in attending the scene of a fatal fire in Bryn Gorwel, Carmarthen, on Sunday evening.

Three-year old Angel Jade Smith died on the first anniversary of her brother Jakey’s cot-death. Little Angel passed away at Heath Hospital, Cardiff, after being transferred from Glangwili. Her mother, Alice Smith, 24, formerly of Caroline Street, Seaside, Llanelli, remains in a serious condition in Morriston hospital. Angel’s father, who managed to save himself by jumping out of a window also received treatment, but was discharged from hospital on Tuesday. Fire and rescue crews, ambulances and police were called to the scene at 6.15pm, where firefighters from Carmarthen and Kidwelly stations battled the blaze for over 4 hours using eight breathing apparatuses, a main jet and two hose reel jets, a ladder and a thermal imaging camera. Angel received treatment for twenty minutes at the scene and had been transported to Glangwili hospital by Police officers before an ambulance arrived, forty minutes after being called. In a letter to the Welsh Ambulance Service, local MP Simon Hart explains how a constituent had contacted him saying: “I, together with members of the Mid and West Wales Fire Service, and an off duty young police officer and an off duty nurse, spent 20 minutes plus carrying out CPR on a three-year-old child who had suffered from smoke inhalation and eventually had to be conveyed to hospital by a response police vehicle.” The head of the Community Health Council, Ashley Warlow, has also demanded an explanation from the Wales Ambulance Service. The Ambulance Station in Carmarthen is under one and a half miles and 7 minutes away from Bryn Gorwel. The failure to attend the emergency until it was too late is the latest in a series of blunders by the Wales Ambulance Service. Carmarthen town and county councillor, Peter Hughes Griffiths said: “To hear of a young child passing away is so very saddening and we are sending our sympathies to all the family. We only hope that the other family members will recover”. Witnesses have said they heard screaming before seeing the incredible amount of smoke billowing out of the building, and say they saw a man jumping out of a window. The mother, who is in her 20s was carried out by a firefighter. It is understood that the family had not lived there very long and had gone out for a walk that day, returning around 40 minutes before the fire broke out. Dyfed Powys Police statement provided a statement saying: “Next of kin and the family have been informed and are being supported by police officers. Enquiries have commenced to establish the cause of the fire.” A Welsh Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “We are aware of this tragic incident and are currently looking into the details surrounding it.” The Wales Ambulance Service is scheduled to provide dedicated cover to transport maternity patients from Haverfordwest to Carmarthen when the Health Board closes the doors at Withybush’s Special Care Baby and Maternity units in August.

News

Car crashes into house in St Davids

Published

4 hours ago

April 25, 2025

Tom Sinclair

EMERGENCY services were called after a car crashed into a house on Nun Street in St Davids on Thursday (Apr 24).

Dyfed-Powys Police and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene at around 4:35pm following reports of a single-vehicle collision.

On arrival, they found that a car had collided with a residential property. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

The road remained open while the vehicle was recovered.

A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Dyfed-Powys Police attended a report of a single-vehicle road traffic collision where a car collided with a property on Nun Street, St Davids, at around 4:35pm yesterday. No injuries were reported, and the road remained open while the vehicle was recovered.”

Community

Milford Haven and Neyland Police issue appeal for missing man

Published

4 hours ago

April 25, 2025

Tom Sinclair

POLICE are appealing for information to help locate a 54-year-old man who has been reported missing from the Milford Haven area.

Neil is described as being around 6ft 2in tall with a shaved head. He has tattoos on his arms and one of his fingers, and sometimes wears glasses.

He was last seen on Friday afternoon (Apr 26) wearing a black Superdry hoodie, ripped jeans, and orange and black Nike Air trainers. Neil is believed to be on foot.

Anyone with information that could help is urged to contact Dyfed-Powys Police: 🖥️ | Online portal
📧 | [email protected]
📞 | Call 101, quoting reference 262 of April 26.

Community

Fire service delivers vital kit to Ukraine

Published

10 hours ago

April 25, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Wales joins UK’s largest firefighting aid convoy

MID and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS) has taken part in the UK’s largest ever convoy delivering vital firefighting equipment to Ukraine, joining 17 other Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) from across the country.

The convoy, coordinated by FIRE AID and supported by the UK Government, left the UK in early April. It travelled through France, Germany and Poland, delivering over 30 fire service vehicles and more than 15,000 items of equipment to support Ukrainian firefighters on the front line of the ongoing war.

Since the Russian invasion in 2022, UK fire services have donated 119 vehicles and over 200,000 pieces of equipment to Ukraine. Each participating service ensured local needs were met before donating surplus kit.

Watch Manager Rob Kershaw represented MAWWFRS on the convoy. He said:
“It’s been a privilege to be part of this convoy and to represent both FIRE AID and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
We received invaluable support and assistance from fire and police services across every country we passed through. Their help in coordinating, escorting, and hosting the convoy was outstanding.”

Chief Fire Officer Roger Thomas KFSM added:
“MAWWFRS is proud to support our colleagues in Ukraine by donating and delivering essential equipment.
The events in Ukraine have deeply affected the fire and rescue community, and this convoy is a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to helping those still working under extreme conditions.”

The donated equipment will support firefighters in Ukraine who continue to operate in war zones to save lives and protect property—often at great personal risk. Since the conflict began, 100 Ukrainian firefighters have been killed and 431 injured. A total of 411 fire stations and 1,700 firefighting vehicles have been destroyed.