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Donations page set up for Sark's volunteer firefighters

The community rallies to fight the first major fire incident ever declared on Sark.

Hours after Guernsey's fire chief warned of the danger of the tinder-dry conditions, a large wildfire broke out on the cliffs below the Silver Mines on Little Sark on Friday morning (10 July).

By lunchtime, Sark's volunteer chief fire officer, Kevin Adams, declared a major incident, the first of its kind on Sark.

The community rallied to help, and tractors carrying water - some from swimming pools - carried out repeated trips across La Coupee.

Mr Adams estimates 270,000 litres of water were used and that more than 50 people helped out.

Residents not directly involved provided food, water and snacks to the crews, and the work continued over the weekend to ensure the fire did not restart.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to provide some financial compensation to the volunteers who missed work to help.

Separately, two teenagers had to be checked over by medics after their single paddleboard got swept out of Dixcart Bay on Saturday afternoon towards Little Sark.

The RNLI's inshore lifeboat found them safe at the base of La Coupee.

In Guernsey, fire crews spent seven hours extinguishing a wildfire on the cliffs at La Corbiere, just in front of the car park.

Despite isolated showers forecast this week it is expected to remain mainly dry, which extends the risk of outside fires.

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