Mark James, who took up the position at Jersey Fire and Rescue on 3 June 2007, is leaving the service to help run his wife’s ceramics business, Jane James Ceramics.
During the past 11 years, Mr James has introduced a wide range of safety programmes, including the Schools Fire Safety Education Programme, called Sparks, and home fire safety visits.
The initiatives have been credited with reducing the number of fires in Jersey. Last year, just 177 blazes were recorded – the lowest since records began in 1962.
Mr James, who served for 18 years with Essex County Fire and Rescue Service before moving to Jersey, has also been responsible for driving through several operational changes to the service. In partnership with the Ambulance Service he introduced a fire co-responding scheme to ensure faster attendance at medical emergencies when ambulances are not available. He took the lead on setting up Jersey Search and Rescue, a lowland search and rescue charity to help search for missing vulnerable persons in the Island. And last year Mr James worked with the RNLI to bring the inshore lifeboat in St Helier back into service following a dispute between the local lifeboat crew and the national charity.
Mr James, who since 2015 has also been the Island’s Emergency Planning Officer, said: ‘I have had an amazing career and it has been a real honour and pleasure to lead Jersey’s Fire and Rescue Service for the past 11 years. A leader is only as good as his team and I have been very fortunate to work with some amazing people. I have made some good friends and had lots of support along the way. None of the initiatives, projects or improvements at the Fire and Rescue Service could have been achieved without the hard work and commitment of everyone who works at the Fire and Rescue Service.’
Mr James said that his job roles would not be advertised at present, and that they would be filled by his deputies in the interim.
