13 July 2026
The head of Jersey’s Fire and Rescue Service has highlighted the work of firefighter colleagues in Guernsey and Sark, following fires in each island – and reminded islanders of the importance of continued vigilance about fire as the hot weather continues.
A major fire in Little Sark last Friday, which was confirmed as a gorse fire and declared a major incident, meant that nine colleagues from Guernsey’s Fire and Rescue Service were drafted in to support Sark’s Fire Service. The fire covered about 20,000 square metres. The declaration of the major incident was the first for Sark in 70 years.
On Sunday in Guernsey, a wildfire broke out on the headland at La Corbiere, with Guernsey’s fire crews battling windy conditions. Guernsey’s Fire and Rescue Service responded to the incident just before 7pm.
Meanwhile, in France, flames broke out during Sunday afternoon in the Mielles area of Portbail-sur-Mer, around 15 miles from Jersey's east coast. The blaze spread rapidly due to strong winds and dry vegetation, including pine trees. Around 50 people were evacuated.
Chief Fire Officer Paul Brown said: “The hard work of our neighbours and colleagues in Sark and Guernsey, in dealing with fires in both islands, highlights the reality and potential of the risk of fire. Some firefighters were injured in responding to the incident in Sark and we wish our colleagues in Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service a speedy recovery.”
There were no major fires in Jersey over the weekend. However, Jersey’s Fire and Rescue Service received multiple calls about the blaze in Portbail-sur-Mer, which showed up as a smoke plume in Jersey, travelling across the island.
Station Commander Larry Vibert said: “We took around 30 calls, yesterday afternoon, reporting a large amount of smoke in the area. For the initial calls, the ‘area’ was in different locations, running from the northeast, through the centre, and into the southwest of the island, in a diagonal line replicating the wind direction. Crews were deployed to all the locations and were checking the area and, of course, to the northeast of those locations. Our duty officers had information about a fire in the Port-Bail area of Normandy but, of course, needed to verify that there was no major fire in Jersey.
“Our thanks go to Jersey Coastguard, who were also aware of and reporting the smoke plume. We were liaising with them through the afternoon, and they proactively deployed the Channel Island Air Search to carry out overflight reconnaissance to assist in ruling out a fire here. We are also very grateful to Channel Island Air Search for their help.”
CFO Brown also thanked colleagues in Jersey’s Emergency Planning Unit, an administrative part of the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service, working across all three sectors to ensure Jersey is prepared to deal with disruptive challenges and crises. The team has been supporting and facilitating a Tactical Coordinating Group, bringing together a very wide range of government, private and third sector partners to manage the impact of the heatwaves. He also highlighted partners at Jersey’s Met Office for their help in supplying a tool called The Fire Severity Index, which is invaluable to the Fire and Rescue Service in helping plot the level of fire risk against current weather.
He added: “Our protection officers have also been working through the Bailiff’s entertainment panel, and directly with partners, to ensure event risk assessments account for wildfire risk. We are grateful for the support and engagement we’ve received.
“We’d like to thank all Islanders for their continued vigilance and responsibility during this continued spell of very hot, dry weather. Please remember, if you see fire, call 999 immediately.”
gov.je