A fire in Niarbyl started by a discarded cigarette was an ’accident’.
Emergency services were called on Monday evening to a blaze in an unoccupied hut at a remote site near Dalby.
A police spokesperson said that it seemed to have been a ’genuine accident’ but it had taken up ’a lot of resources which may have been needed elsewhere’.
Police have confirmed nobody was hurt.
David Dallimore, station manager at the fire safety team, said: ’From the cliff side, the fire service worked alongside our colleagues from the coastguard to set up a safe system of work so firefighters could fight the fire on the cliff edge.
’Water supplies were difficult to maintain and a water relay was set up with a base pump maintaining the supply from a river which was some distance away.’
The fire spread from the hut to the coast line through the grassland and gorse.
There was some difficulty in accessing the fire but the lifeboat managed to ferry equipment and personnel to the scene.
Mr Dallimore said: ’The incident was especially challenging to manage due to the location and poor radio signal which made communication difficult with considerable distances between the different sectors.
’We worked with our partners from the police, lifeboat and coast guard to attack the fire from the cliff side and the beach.’
He added: ’If you are smoking when enjoying the islands’ coastline be especially careful how you dispose of your cigarettes and ensure they are properly put out.’
He explained that due to the increasingly warm weather, the chances of fires starting and spreading in the outdoors has increased.