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At a special briefing this morning, Jersey's Chief Fire Officer Paul Brown laid out a rough timeline of the response to the Pier Road explosion as it unfolded.
Here is what we know...
Friday, 20:36: The Fire Service receive a call relating to a strong smell of gas in the area of Pier Road, and officers are sent to the area.
Saturday, 04:00 (roughly): The Fire Service went to the scene of an explosion at the three-storey Andium-run Haut du Mont apartment building. The Fire Service then began “immediate fire-fighting, evacuation and search and rescue”.
Once this was underway, the Fire Service proceeded to “invoke mutual aid using our protocol that we have had in place for a number of years with the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue service.”
Paul Brown also stated that “significant support” has been received from the National Resilience Function and National Fire Chiefs' Council.
Pictured: three waves of UK urban search and rescue specialist fire-fighters arrived in Jersey between 10:00 and 19:00.
Saturday, 10:00: The first team of UK urban search and rescue specialist firefighters, conveyed to Jersey by a Martime and Coastguard agency helicopter, arrive.
Yesterday morning the Sqn responded to a request to assist in the ongoing situation in Jersey. The National Standby crew and approximately 30 pers from around the station enabled us to help @GovJersey with efforts. Our thoughts are with those affected by events there.
— 18 (Bomber) Squadron (@18Squadron) December 11, 2022
Saturday, 17:00: A second team arrives from the UK, along with search dogs.
Saturday, 19:00: A “final, larger team with heavy and specialist equipment” arrives, having been brought to Jersey by military transport.
Video: Jersey and UK search teams worked overnight, assisted by sniffer dogs.
Sunday, 08:20: Police Chief Robin Smith confirms that “the search and rescue operation had been moved to a recovery operation.”
Mr Brown reiterated that “in the early phases” it was a search-and-rescue operation, but it has since become solely a search operation.
Mr Brown said the operation is “focused on, clearly, making sure we understand exactly what happened, and how it happened, to the best of our ability. But also, importantly, dignity. Dignity for islanders and people’s loved ones.”
Images from the search crews on site tonight. A briefing will be given tomorrow morning with an update on their progress. Final details and timings of that briefing will be confirmed in the morning. pic.twitter.com/oydk8voYz8
— Government of Jersey (@GovJersey) December 10, 2022
The operation in total involves “around 10” Jersey firefighters, alongside 20 urban search and rescue specialists from other fire and rescue services, mainly from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, deployed on a rotational basis.
Mr Brown said: “We have been searching. We will not stop searching for islanders, for people’s loved ones. That is our sole focus.”
He concluded: “Resources will not come between us and the task that we have to achieve.”
Elsewhere in this morning's press conference, Police Chief Robin Smith confirmed that it was expected that efforts to search the area for further victims, and establish what caused the blast, would last "weeks" rather than days.
He said the search through the debris would be "meticulous and painstaking".
An investigation has already been opened with a Senior Investigating Officer appointed. Jersey's Health and Safety Inspectorate, Andium Homes and the Islands Energy Group are all cooperating.
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