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Flames ripped through headland at Bonne Nuit on Saturday night in a rapidly spreading inferno that left firefighters "struggling" to supply enough water.
A team of up to 26 – including duty and back-up officers - battled the coastal blaze for eight hours until it was finally brought under control at 01:00.
Crews remained at the Fremont area above Bonne Nuit through the night to dampen ‘hot spot’ areas in a bid to stop further spread.
Three fire engines, two water carriers and four support vehicles were all put into use as part of the extinguishing efforts.
UPDATE: Fire is under control. Crews will remaining on scene through the night damping down hot spots and monitoring to avoid further spread.
— Jersey Fire & Rescue (@JsyFire) September 16, 2018
Despite the large team, Duty Officer Ryan Hall said in a statement this morning that they had still been met with “difficult challenges.”
One of those was access to the scene.
“The difficult terrain and access meant that it was very difficult for crews to get close enough safely and had to work from the foot paths and use tactics that allowed us to control the spread of the blaze,” he added.
That struggle was captured on camera by the Aerial Recon Team drone (gallery below), which revealed the significant extent of the fire damage to the furze.
Some aerial footage of the Bonne Nuit furze fire working with @JsyFire to help gauge the size of the damaged area and identify any further hotspots with the potential to cause further fire spread pic.twitter.com/HMX4FsZ4xg
— Aerial Recon Team (@Jsy999ART) September 16, 2018
“Struggling with inadequate water supplies,” the team also had to call in a second bulk water carrier.
“It is not known the cause of the fire, but incidents like these are a real test for our resources and leave us very stretched and vulnerable.
“Without the support and hard work from our Whole-time and On-Call firefighters, this incident could have easily been a lot larger.”
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Jersey’s Fire and Rescue Service are now carrying out inspections.
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