North Lancs firefighter describes Haiti earthquake rescue

4:12pm Thursday 28th January 2010

By Ian Boydon

THE team of British rescuers had been working for hours in intense 95C heat, burrowing through the remains of a collapsed three-storey building when they felt the aftershock hit.

The tonnes of concrete precariously balanced over their heads began to shake as the ground rumbled beneath their feet.

“I have never seen people get out of a building so quickly,” said Bolton-le-Sands firefighter Mark Monkhouse. “We were working inside the building, standing in a line passing rubble out - it was arduous in the 90 to 95-degree heat. While we were in there we felt an aftershock for about five seconds. It gave the building a good shake, which was quite hairy.

“My thoughts were to just get out as quickly as possible. Luckily everyone got out safe.”

A father-of-two, Mr Monkhouse, 39, of Mill Lane, was among a UK rescue team scrambled to the Carribean island of Haiti after it was devastated by a massive earthquake on January 12. Their mission - to try to find and save lives in the wretched country’s shattered ruins.

Although Mr Monkhouse, a Watch Manager at Morecambe Fire Station, has been a member of the UK International Search and Rescue team for around five years, this was the first time he has been called up to participate in a rescue operation.

Within hours of the earthquake striking, he was battling through snow on his way to Gatwick Airport to rendezvous with other team members.

“My pager went off at 12.30 in the morning saying there had been an earthquake, that puts us on alert,” he said. “I switched Sky News on and saw that it was a massive earthquake. Then about an hour later I got another pager message telling me to go to our store in Leyland to pick up our gear and then go to Gatwick.”

However the team were delayed for around three hours by snow on the runway - which was frustrating because the team know time is critical for saving lives.

After stopping to refuel in Canada they flew to Haiti’s neighbouring state, the Dominican Republic. A 45-minute flight to Haiti was then followed by two hours of circling the skies above the capital, Port-au-Prince, because the airport was so busy with aid and rescue teams flown in from across the globe.

On landing the team set up base at the airport - because, following reports of violence and looting in Port-au-Prince, it was deemed the only secure area as it was protected by UN troops.

“The briefings we had on the security situation didn’t pull any punches, it was pretty bad,” said Mr Monkhouse. “We couldn’t leave the site at first because we needed a security escort. It was frustrating because all we wanted to do was to go and search for people.

“However I think most of the violence was from Haitian citizens on Haitians. I think they recognised we were there to help and they were friendly towards us in the end.”

The rescue teams, from many different countries, were split into groups and allocated different areas of the capital to search.

“When we left the airport it was an eye-opener because there were loads and loads of people walking around with all their belongings - they were like ants” said Mr Monkhouse. “The majority of the buildings were pancake-collapsed (where upper floors drop straight down on those below) but then you would get the building right next door which looked untouched.

“In the searches you would find bodies - lots of them, and the smell, it was a strange smell.”

It was on the first day of searching that another group of rescuers from the UK found little Mia - a two-year-old girl in the remains of her collapsed nursery school.

“That gave us a lift,” said Mr Monkhouse. “You realise that there are people still trapped and that there is still work to do.”

On the second day, following a lead from a member of the public, they found a 60-year-old man trapped in a tight void in his pancake-collapsed home.

“He had been in bed when the earthquake happened,” said Mr Monkhouse. “He rolled out of bed on to the floor. Then the roof above came down on his bed - if he had not rolled out he would have been crushed. However the building settled just above where he lay.”

It was while the team were trying to rescue this man that the aftershock struck. When things settled down again they were able to continue digging rubble out and after six hours they reached him and got him out.

“He had been in there for three or four days and was very dehydrated,” said Mr Monkhouse. “He was in shock and was covered in dust.

“It is a great feeling when you get someone out. That is what we have gone there for.”

Mr Monkhouse’s team were also deployed to a nearby town of Leogane, however he described the scene as “90 per cent destroyed” and no survivors were found in the rubble.

The rescuers returned home after ten days in Haiti and although he said no training could prepare him for the sights and smells of the devastation, he remains ready to join in rescue operations when inevitable future disasters strike.

“I’m going to carry on in the team,” he said. “Obviously it wasn’t a nice experience but being able to save someone’s life makes it a very rewarding one.”