Out-of-control bonfire sets field alight

A SMALL bonfire engulfed a four-vergee field in St Peter's yesterday.

Firefighters spent more than two hours damping down the orchard, which is just off the Ruette de Courtil Blondel green lane, near Route des Paysans.

The blaze started when the field's owner, retired property company owner Denis Le Tissier, 71, decided to start a small fire near the field's gate to clear some weeds.

'It just ran away from me, in just a click of my fingers,' he said. 'I thought at first I could control it and I tried to beat it out, but it was not enough.'

He called the Fire and Rescue Service at 2.10pm and the first of three fire appliances arrived at 2.30pm.

Mr Le Tissier had cut the grass in the field about a week ago and left the cuttings on the surface. While the entire field burned, it appeared that mostly only the grass cuttings had burnt and the flames were only a few inches high.