Fire service holding centenary open day
THE Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service marks 100 years of serving the community with an open day at the Fire Station at the Arsenal on Saturday.
There will be a range of activities and demonstrations running from 10am to 4pm, including simulated ladder rescues, road traffic collision rescues and cliff rescues and tours of the station, with a barbecue running all day in Victoria Gardens across the road from the station.
‘The first of July this year marked the start of a year of celebrations for our 100-year anniversary. This open day will be the latest event in those celebrations and we wanted to put it on to give the local community a chance to come and see exactly what it is that we do,’ said chief fire officer John Le Page.
‘We’re hoping to welcome lots of people to come and meet us, and have put on a number of different events to make the day interesting for people of all ages.
‘Whether it be dealing with major fires, helping give advice to prevent fires, rescuing people after a car crash, or helping with a cliff rescue, our crews are trained in a huge breadth of skills that all revolve around one thing – saving lives.
‘Hopefully the demonstrations we will be doing on the day will show exactly how skilled my teams are at their jobs.’
Various fire service teams have been established in the island since 1773, initially on a parish basis.
The States officially took responsibility for providing fire cover for the whole of the island in 1922.
The Fire Brigade, as it was known, took up residency in the Fire Station at the Town Arsenal in 1935.
The Fire & Rescue Service now has 57 full-time operational staff, 10 part-timers in Herm, and 20 volunteers in Guernsey who form the specialist cliff rescue capability.
Proceeds raised during the day will be split between four charities – Guernsey Mind, Les Bourgs Hospice, the MS Society Guernsey, and the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation.
