A crew of 15 were called out at 10.37pm to a fire of around 30-40ft high near the Pilcher Monument on the west coast that faces Guernsey.
Local businessman Simon Couldridge spotted the fire from his bedroom window in Guernsey.
‘We had just finished watching the 10 o’clock news when we saw the fire raging away. When it’s that dark you can’t tell if it is on Sark or Brecqhou.’
With flames raging on the cliff face and thick fog descending, Fire Chief Kevin Adams spoke of the danger posed to the volunteers on duty.
‘Most of the fire was on the cliff side, which made extinguishing it hazardous and difficult. Crews with breathing apparatus had to create walkways through waist-high scrub to get close to the seat of the fire.
‘Not all areas could be reached to dampen down as thick fog descended and made visibility less than five metres and with only a few metres from a steep cliff edge this was deemed too dangerous [to continue].’
Fire crew eventually left the scene at 3.30am and returned at 7.30am to check for hot spots,
‘Cliff fires aren’t exciting really as you know it will be a long hard slog up and down the cliff,’ said Mr Adams.
A church organist and choir master during the day, Mr Adams said that he and the constable will be alerting everyone to the dangers of disposable BBQs.
‘If nothing else we will be mentioning to people about the discarding of single-use tin foil-based BBQs, as they maintain their heat for many hours and the radiated heat through onto the grass below will set the grass alight.’
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