New fire chief found from outside island

Current Guernsey chief fire officer Jon Le Page is set to retire at the end of March and the hunt had been on for his replacement.

Home Affairs has now confirmed that Les Britzman will start in late March and take on the top job on 1 April.

He has served in a number of fire services in a career spanning more than 27 years.

Most recently he has been working as a consultant following his retirement from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Service, where he served as chief fire officer and director of public protection for three years.

Mr Britzman said he was looking forward to meeting the local team.

‘I appreciate there will be unique challenges for the Fire & Rescue Service due to being based on an island,’ he said.

‘Nevertheless, I am confident that together we will continue to develop and improve from a sound base and ensure we have a service the island can be proud of.’

Mr Le Page said the service was fortunate to have attracted someone with Mr Britzman’s experience.

‘Having got to know Les when we were both students of the National Fire Service Executive Leadership Programme in 2011/2012, I am confident that I will be leaving the Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service in safe hands under his leadership, and I am sure he will positively develop the service into the future,’ he said.

Mr Britzman began his career as a professional engineer before starting his fire career with Nottinghamshire in 1995 as a recruit firefighter.

He gained experience as a staff officer, brigade instructor and in the community fire safety team before going to Norfolk Fire and Rescue. He was later promoted to area manager as head of fire protection and fire service operations for the east of the county.

During a two-year secondment to London he supported government and fire services during the 2012 Olympic Games and national emergencies, such as country-wide flooding.

In 2018, he moved to Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue as deputy chief fire officer, before taking over as chief fire officer and director of public protection in 2019. He retired in 2022 and has since worked as a consultant.