Fire chief says service has high number of calls

Jersey's fire service deals with a comparatively larger number of non-fire related emergencies than many counterparts in the UK, according to its boss.

The service is marking its 75th anniversary this year and chief fire officer, Paul Brown, said it responded to about 1,300 calls a year.

He said living on an island, firefighters had to be prepared for anything, including cliff and sea rescues.

He told BBC Jersey the number of fires in homes was above the number responded to by many other services in the UK, and it also dealt with "well above" the number of non-fire emergencies.

The service has faced challenging incidents in recent years including the gas explosion at Haut du Mont in 2022 in which 10 people died and the aftermath of Storm Ciarán in 2023 which battered the island.

Referring to the storms, Mr Brown said: "We were exceptionally busy with hundreds of calls.

"You don't want to deploy lots of people into a hazardous environment if you don't have to, equally, people need us."

He recalled a tree came down on a fire engine, adding: "Firefighters are remarkable people and they have a remarkable skills set. They are very resilient, very competent."

Mr Brown, who has been in post since 2019, said firefighters did a lot of work on education, fire prevention and law enforcement and "need to adapt and reflect that the hazards around us change."

Crews are also regularly facing the challenge of furze fires in dry summers when the wind is strong.

"They are very resource intensive," said Mr Brown.

"Fires will spread at the speed of the wind or near to it."

He urged people to reduce risks at home by using the service's home fire safety checker and only buying products from reputable suppliers.

"You can't eliminate risk but you can take it down to the lowest level," he said.

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