Guernsey Press

Blaze destroys family’s treasured possessions

A GARDEN bonfire raged out of control yesterday afternoon, destroying a family’s treasured possessions.

Published
A firefighter douses the undergrowth with water at the property in Rue Thomas, St Peter Port. (Picture by Charlotte Green, 21857096)

The first firefighters on the scene at the Rue Thomas property discovered a big blaze and initially were able only to stop it from spreading.

Only when a water tender arrived were they were able to start winning the battle.

The emergency services were called at 1.49pm.

Fire & Rescue Service crew commander Derek Howlett said they had initially been worried the fire would spread to a neighbour’s oil tank and the property was evacuated. ‘We were called to an undergrowth fire, but en route we got information that it was worse,’ he said. Two sheds were on fire.

‘Initially it was about protecting the hedge to stop the fire from spreading towards the oil tank. Then the second appliance arrived and then we had a lot more water.’

The smoky conditions meant all the crew were wearing breathing apparatus. Clouds of smoke could be seen from as far away as Courtil St Jacques. It took more than an hour for the fire crews to get the blaze under control.

The homeowner, who asked not to be named, said she and her partner had been doing up their home for four years and many of their valued possessions, including family photographs, were kept in the two sheds, which were destroyed by the fire.

Her grandmother lives nearby and had first called her daughter to say there was a fire.

‘My mum phoned me and said “your house is on fire”,’ she said.

‘There was just smoke everywhere when I arrived home. All I could see was smoke. I thought “oh my God”.’

She said a gardener had been working in the garden earlier that day, which is what could have led to the fire.

‘We are just glad everyone’s safe,’ the homeowner said.

College of Further Education construction and engineering faculty director Chris Torode first spotted the fire from the top-floor library at the Coutanchez campus.

‘We alerted the fire service when we smelled smoke inside the building,’ he said.

‘We thought maybe it was coming from a fire on the building site, but then we saw the smoke was coming from the other way. I went to the library and saw the end of the garden was well alight,’ he said.

Students were alerted to the incident, but it was decided not to evacuate the building as it would lead to pupils being closer to the fire and traffic blocking the road, when the emergency services needed to get through.

Mr Howlett said a fire investigation officer would be looking into the incident. He added that in the hot, dry, windy conditions islanders should take a lot of extra care if they were lighting a bonfire.