A 25-year-old Canadian tourist ignited an unorthodox rescue scenario after getting stranded on a remote island in Norway last week.

The man, whose identity has not been revealed, broke his foot while camping on the northern island of Hillesoy and became stranded.

According to the paper Nordlys, the man attempted to send out smoke signals to alert rescuers.

However, his efforts took on a life of their own, reportedly engulfing a large part of the island's foliage in flames.

"He lay there for three days waiting to be discovered but on the third day...he realized he had to do something himself," said Joran Bugge, who led the police rescue operation.

The fire soon burned out of control, and it took 20 firefighters to fight the flames back by Friday morning. Though 200 to 300 people live on the other side of the island, located in the Scandinavian nation's extreme north, they did not appear to be in danger.

Meanwhile, the tourist was airlifted to a hospital and treated for "moderate" injuries.

"It's illegal to start this kind of fire, but in this case the police aren't going to take any action," Bugge said.

Agencies