Listen out for the bangs as flares are destroyed
Explosions will be heard from the north of the island throughout this week as licensed police officers detonate thousands of unused flares.
A skip-load of unwanted, expired or decayed flares is being set alight by officers each day this week after Covid lockdowns and restrictions meant a build-up of pyrotechnics.
Police cordoned off an area at Fort Le Marchant where they are carrying out the destruction of the ordnance.
‘We try to this at least once or twice a year and for four or five days at a time,’ said PC James De La Mare.
‘We only tend to do it in the winter when it’s cold and damp because inherently one or two will pop out and we don’t want a gorse fire.’
Watch: Officers dispose of a skip-load of unused flares
This week officers have been picking up flares from different collection points around the island to dispose of them.
In a specially-designed skip, which gets chained shut during the process, hundreds of flares are set off at a time.
It is the safest, quickest and cheapest way to dispose of such a large amount.
Cardboard is placed over the devices before it is chained shut, and a lit flare is placed through a hole on the side.
The flares burn at such an intense heat that officers stand back and wait.
‘It doesn’t all light instantly, but after a few minutes or so things get going as the fire starts internally and then it all goes off,’ said PC De La Mare.
‘We get all sorts of different flares so there’s often lots of different colours.
‘In November last year we had one which had a wooden handle and we contacted the company and they said it was post-World War II from the 1950s.’
Guernsey Waste recently ran a campaign titled Check Before You Chuck after it discovered a few flares that had been put into normal black bins.
Licensed police officers dispose of the pyrotechnics on behalf of Guernsey Waste.
Yesterday, the team also detonated two World War II shells, which were recently found in St Martin’s, as well as the detonation shock cord which was seen washing ashore on Guernsey’s coastline last year.
‘Hopefully by the end of this week that will be us fresh and ready for another burn in November,’ said PC De La Mare.
Unwanted, expired or used flares should be taken, free of charge, to AB Marine, Boatworks +, Marine & General Chandlery, Sunsport Marine or the police station.
