A MAJOR blaze in Little Sark – that left some firefighters injured – and a wildfire in Guernsey have prompted a reminder from Jersey’s fire chief for Islanders to stay vigilant amid the hot and dry weather.
Chief fire officer Paul Brown said the recent incidents in the nearby islands highlighted “the reality and potential of the risk of fire”.
A gorse fire in Little Sark on Friday covered about 20,000 square metres and saw nine firefighters from Guernsey drafted in to support Sark’s Fire Service.
Some firefighters were injured while responding to the blaze, which also led to Sark’s first major incident declaration in 70 years.
And on Sunday, a wildfire broke out on the La Corbière headland in Guernsey, where the island’s fire crews battled against the flames in windy conditions.
Mr Brown said: “The hard work of our neighbours and colleagues in Sark and Guernsey, in dealing with fires in both islands, highlights the reality and potential of the risk of fire.
“Some firefighters were injured in responding to the incident in Sark and we wish our colleagues in Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service a speedy recovery.”
He thanked Islanders “for their continued vigilance and responsibility during this continued spell of very hot, dry weather”, adding: “If you see fire, call 999 immediately.”
There were no major fires in Jersey over the weekend, but the Island’s Fire and Rescue Service did receive around 30 calls reporting a large amount of smoke caused by a blaze in Portbail-sur-Mer.
Station commander Larry Vibert said: “For the initial calls, the ‘area’ was in different locations, running from the northeast, through the centre, and into the southwest of the Island, in a diagonal line replicating the wind direction.
“Crews were deployed to all the locations and were checking the area and, of course, to the northeast of those locations. Our duty officers had information about a fire in the Port-Bail area of Normandy but, of course, needed to verify that there was no major fire in Jersey.”
He added: “Our thanks go to Jersey Coastguard, who were also aware of and reporting the smoke plume.
“We were liaising with them through the afternoon, and they proactively deployed the Channel Island Air Search to carry out overflight reconnaissance to assist in ruling out a fire here. We are also very grateful to Channel Island Air Search for their help.”
