Some life-saving advice
IT IS A sobering warning to hear Guernsey’s Chief Fire Officer pleading for islanders to avoid bonfires and even portable barbeques for the massive potential risk it might have for the island.
The fire service has already had more call outs for wildfires this summer than it would do in a normal season, and with another hot weekend on the way, thought it best to get a warning out early.
‘Guernsey, and the rest of the Bailiwick, is right now as dry as a tinder box,’ said Chief Fire Officer Jon Le Page yesterday.
‘It only takes one person acting irresponsibly to start a fire that causes very serious damage.
‘It only takes one careless bonfire, one badly-placed BBQ, or one discarded cigarette butt, and a 999 call that comes a bit too late.’
Lots of people remember the summer of 1976 fondly.
But not those who were in the fire service at the time, who recall when a large-scale and dangerous fire on the south coast cliffs took hold. The environment took years to recover.
We may have to moderate our behaviours slightly for a few weeks. It’s no great hardship.
This is common sense advice which needs to be taken on board.
Just one careless act could see our landscape and even life threatened.