Specialist firefighters to aid Haiti rescue effort
Reporter: Beatriz Ayala
Date published: 14 January 2010
Peter Stevenson (left) and Martin Foran (fourth from right) with other members of the team and Echo, the urban search and rescue dog
A PAIR of Oldham firefighters and a rescue dog have headed out to earthquake-hit Haiti to help with the rescue efforts.
Peter Stevenson (48) and Martin Foran (29) joined seven colleagues from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), as well as the service’s urban search and rescue labrador Echo, ready to fly to the stricken Caribbean nation.
According to the Red Cross, around three million people need emergency help in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.
Operations manager Peter Stevenson, from Royton, is stationed in Rochdale and is one of three UK International Search and Rescue team leaders on standby to attend any humanitarian disaster in the world.
Rescue technician Martin Foran, from Haslingden, is based at Chadderton fire station and has worked for the fire service for nine years.
The pair travelled to Gatwick Airport as part of the UK Fire Service International Search and Rescue Team and will join 61 personnel mobilised from other fire services across the country.
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The Disasters Emergency Committee Haiti Earthquake Appeal is to launch with the support of major UK broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Al-Jazeera.
The money raised will support the efforts of the DEC’s members which are the major UK aid agencies.
The appeal is to be broadcast on Friday, but donation lines and the website - www.dec.org.uk - are already open for donations. The donation line is 0370 60 60 900.
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Mr Stevenson, who has 30 years experience in the fire service, will lead the GMFRS team and has been designated as operations commander for the UK contingent.
He said: “I have no doubt this will be an extremely challenging situation but we will do our utmost to use our equipment and training to help the people of Haiti.
“Some of the team members have previous experience of dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes in India, Turkey, Algeria and Pakistan and will utilise everything they have learned previously.”
The UK team is made up of personnel from other fire services including Lancashire, Lincolnshire West Midlands and Kent.
