Tuesday 16 July 2019
The States of Guernsey is urging people not to light fires on beaches, and to take extra care in putting out beach barbecues.
It comes after a young child was injured stepping on what is believed to be the smouldering embers of a beach fire that was not properly extinguished.
On the 22nd of June, 4-year-old Georgia was walking on Grandes Rocques beach with her dad when she stepped on the remnants of the fire and severely burned her foot. She had to attend the Emergency Department at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital and it was several days before she could walk again.
Georgia's mum Rachel Tyson is now urging Islanders to be aware of the dangers of beach fires. It's a message the States' Senior Environment Services Officer Jan Dockerill is reinforcing. She said:
'Fires can cause very serious injury, even when the flames are out. If not put out properly they can cause severe burns to people and animals. This week we will be putting up more signage highlighting our 'Beach Code', which provides good advice on a number of issues including beach fires, as well as litter, wildlife and noise.
When it comes to barbecues there are rules requiring they are always kept below the high tide mark and only carried out after 5pm. We would of course ask that after people use water and sand to make sure the area around the barbecue isn't hot and won't hurt other beach users.'
