Four Greater Manchester firefighters have taken their expertise to Turkey to help with the rescue and humanitarian operation as the country and parts of Syria continue to be devastated by Monday's earthquake. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the border region between Turkey and Syria, an area with a population of 13.5 million, killing more than 20,000 people, but this could rise further.
Four members of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service flew out on Tuesday (February 7) and have been leading teams using their specialist skills to help the vast rescue operation taking place in the region.
Ramsbottom and Heywood station manager, Martin Foran, Leigh technical rescue unit watch manager, Mike Hurst, Steve Pennington, also from Leigh's technical rescue unit, and Dave Hedgecock, from Ashton's technical rescue unit, are in the city of Hatay and have shared a number of pictures from the area.
GMFRS said Mr Foran is performing the role of Ops Commander and is responsible for two crews consisting of 13 personnel each while Mr Hirst is the deputy crew leader for one of these crews. Mr Pennington is the heavy lift specialist within that crew and Mr Hedgecock is a search and rescue technician along with the others.
The firefighters have gone over with the UK International Search and Rescue (UK ISAR) team responding to disasters on behalf of the government. They shared a video on their social media accounts yesterday afternoon of three firefighters rescuing a woman from rubble.
Mr Pennington of GMFRS was revealed to be one of these, with their Twitter account sharing this clip. They said: "At the start of this video our very own Steve Pennington (Firefighter at Leigh TRU red watch) is on the left hand side (with the yellow stripes). What an amazing moment to capture this incredible rescue. We're so proud of what our staff are doing in Turkey to help others."
When the GMFRS officers first went out Assistant Chief Fire Officer Barry Moore said: "Our thoughts go out to the many thousands across Turkey and Syria who have tragically lost loved ones and livelihoods in these earthquakes, and to the emergency responders working to locate and rescue survivors. We know that those rescue efforts are taking place in challenging winter conditions, compounding what is already a very difficult operation.
"Four of our firefighters have now arrived in Turkey and will rapidly be deployed to assist search and rescue operations in the affected areas. As part of the UK-ISAR team, they are trained in the use of specialist skills and equipment and ready to respond to any humanitarian disaster that takes place anywhere in the world."
Working as part of UK-ISAR, Manchester firefighters have previously been deployed to floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014, the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, and the earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010.
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