'Serious fire' rips through Octopus Restaurant in Guernsey

  • Several roads in St Peter Port are closed as crews tackle the blaze. Pictures courtesy of Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service.

A "serious fire" has ripped through a restaurant in Guernsey producing a "toxic smoke flume".

Islanders have been warned to keep their doors and windows closed if they see smoke coming towards them, following a fire at Octopus Restaurant in St Peter Port.

However, Guernsey Fire Service Incident Commander, Danny Joyce has stressed: "It is not a public safety hazard."

Emergency services attended the blaze at 4.09am on Saturday 24 February.

Commander Joyce said: "Everybody is fine there were no people in the building at the time."

He also confirmed "there is no gas in the building" as gas bottles were removed from the site.

  • Firefighters responded to the blaze in the early hours of Saturday 24 February. Picture credit: ITV News.

He added: "Unfortunately, the fire was in the roof void and began to spread.

"It became apparent that it was too dangerous to fight the fire from within the building. So we withdrew from outside the building and since then we've been fighting the fire from outside."

Guernsey Civil Protection is diverting traffic as roads surrounding La Vallette are closed.

Both South Esplanade and Val Des Terres are also closed.

Guernsey Police Duty Inspector, Adam Miller thanked volunteers for assisting with necessary road closures and asked the public to work with them so that emergency services could continue to access the site.

He added that all lines of inquiry are open and has appealed for witnesses.

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