AROUND 50 people are homeless following a huge fire in St Peter last night.
With just the clothes they were wearing, dozens of people fled the Broadlands guesthouse — which was being used as a lodging house — and surrounding properties following the blaze, which started at around 6.30 pm.
Numerous explosions were felt around the parish as the fire on Mont Fallu spread to a recycling centre next door, which contained heavy goods lorries, gas cylinders and tyres.
St Peter’s Parish Hall became a makeshift shelter last night after residents of the three-storey lodging house, and neighbouring properties, were evacuated. They were later offered accommodation by neighbours and hotels.
The thick acrid smoke, which could be seen right across the Island, forced the closure of the Airport and all flights were cancelled.
Around 400 passengers were affected in total, and long delays were still being experienced this morning.
A 200-metre exclusion zone remained in place this morning as firefighters continued to damp down the area.
The owner of the lodging house and recycling centre, Wayne Le Marquand, says that he has ‘lost the lot’ with an estimated £1m to £2m worth of damage being caused.
• Pictures by JEP readers Quintin Wilton/Stephane Gimenez, Rachel Canter, Jason Wyatt, Chris Black, Jersey Fire and Rescue and JEP photographers
Article posted on 15th July, 2008 - 2.00pm
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