As reported on Thursday, the Fire and Rescue Service are to work closely with the charity to help restore lifeboat operations from St Helier after the RNLI closed the station following a dispute with the local volunteer crew.
On Friday, the service said that staff who were already trained to use its inshore rescue boat were to undergo bespoke training this weekend and into next week, alongside existing RNLI volunteers.
Jersey’s Fire and Rescue Service has operated an inshore rescue boat since 1960. Over the last 57 years it has launched its boats 3,037 times and saved more than 1,000 lives.
As well as boasting a long history of carrying out sea rescues, the service can also claim to have inspired the RNLI to set up their own fleet of inflatable lifeboats.
The use of an inflatable rescue boat by the service in the 1960s caught the attention of renowned lifeboat designer David Stogdon, who persuaded the charity to create its own fleet of inflatable rescue craft.
Over the years, new generations of the boats were built, ultimately leading to the rigid inflatable Atlantic lifeboats used today.
Chief Fire Officer Mark James said: ‘The aim of this closer collaboration with the RNLI is to work together to save lives at sea. If by training my firefighters to help crew and operate the St Helier inshore lifeboat (ILB) we can protect more lives at sea and the safety of the firefighters, then this must be the right thing to do in the current circumstances.
‘I hope in the longer term that St Helier lifeboat station can return to full operational duties but in the meantime we will do whatever we can to ensure the safety of the public.’
