Major incident as large island fire breaks out

A major incident has been declared after a large fire broke out on Little Sark.

Fire crews and residents have been tackling the blaze, off the Channel Island of Guernsey, for more than four hours.

The fire service confirmed it was restricted to cliff land and no properties had currently been affected.

Kevin Adams, chief fire officer at Sark Fire and Rescue Service, said it was the largest fire he had ever seen in Sark and that a "massive plume of white smoke" could be seen coming from the island.

Little Sark is a peninsula of the island of Sark and is joined to the rest of the island by an isthmus called La Coupée, according to the island's government.

The island has a population of about 500, and was designated as the world's first dark sky island by the International Dark-sky Association, recognising its lack of light pollution, in 2011.

The States of Guernsey said it had sent fire crews to the location, alongside staff from its ambulance service.

Adams said: "We have managed to keep it away from two houses.

"Currently it's going down the cliff towards the sea, but, if anybody looks out from their houses on the east coast of Guernsey, they can see it."

He continued: "I've declared it a major incident and have a crew from Guernsey coming across to assist because we've been going at this non-stop for more than four hours.

"We had a few issues getting water from the underground tanks here but we've never had to fight a fire as big as this. It has stretched us.

"Thanks to everybody on Sark that have come out. We've got builders, people with their water bowsers for their animals - we must be 30 to 35-strong here."

He added: "I'm standing in a field here and there's just bare grass.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it crossed a football pitch in less than a minute... We're going to be dampening down 4,000 square metres [43,000 sq ft].

"It's going to need dampening down for ages and ages - it's going to be days."

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