It is understood the fire now spans 100 hectares. Fire services from as far away as Essex are arriving to help with the emergency effort.
The smell of smoke occasionally fills the air with changing wind, as well as the sound of sirens from passing fire trucks and the whirring of a helicopter passing intermittently overhead.
At Westleton Village Hall, locals are banding together to help others, including holidaymakers, who have been evacuated from holiday lets and caravans near the fire.
Volunteers set up the makeshift rescue centre late on Wednesday night after the scale of the fire became clear.
They are helping evacuees to sort accommodation and giving away free food and drinks, including sandwiches, delivered from supermarket chain Waitrose, to the needy, including babies, families, elderly residents and some in wheelchairs.
Volunteers are also handing out pet food to animals evacuated.
Shortly before midday, they anlso unpacked bedding and pillows from a delivery van before moving them into the main hall.
Among the volunteers is Barry Banks, 52, who has lived in the village full-time for the past five years.
He told the Mirror: “We were made aware by the smell of smoke and sirens. We’re lucky we haven’t had too many fires in the past but it’s always in the back of everyone’s minds.
“By the time we got down here to open up there was already a strong team of volunteers ready to help in any way they could.
“We were fully open and operational for refreshments from about 10pm and then we heard that people were being evacuated from the campsites up until about midnight, 1am.
“We managed to get 47 people housed with the village. Everyone that turned up here was successfully housed.
“It was a mixture of accommodation, but I’d say about 80-90 per cent was people’s houses. It was a great effort. We’re very proud.
“We arrived this morning to cook a full breakfast for everyone that was housed overnight.”
Barry added: “From the two updates we’ve had this morning, we understand things are still very fluid as far as the fire is concerned.
“The fire service are trying to slow the spread, but with the wind whipping up and due to change direction shortly, according to the forecast, it’s still a bit of the unknown.
“We understand there were possibly 18 to 20 fire appliances at its peak. It was constant through the night with sirens.
“It was amazing to see the response from everyone, emergency services especially.”


