British Firefighters Recount Harrowing Rescue Mission in Morocco Earthquake Aftermath

Neil Woodmansey, his six-year-old dog Colin, and his colleagues Karl Keuneke, Darren Burchnall and Ben Clarke from Lincolnshire were among the 60 firefighters from 14 British fire services who participated in the rescue operations after the violent earthquake that hit Morocco and killed more than 2,900 people and injured more than 5,000. Woodmansey tells the BBC how he arrived in Morocco: "One minute it’s a Saturday morning [and] you have your plans - I was supposed to go have a few drinks in Lincoln - and the next minute you’re packing your bags and flying off to try and help the Moroccan people."

"As soon as we arrived, we headed for the mountains and, as you can imagine, the journey was difficult," he continued. The epicenter of the quake was in the High Atlas mountains, about 71 km from Marrakech, and most of the hardest hit areas were isolated towns and villages. He and his colleagues were able to reach the affected villages after five hours due to blocked roads and "very narrow mountain tracks". It was "exciting but terrifying," admitted the British firefighter. Colin lay down and fell asleep, but the rest of us were a bit on edge."

His colleague Ben Clarke, based at the Sleaford fire station, says he was struck by the scale of the disaster. "In the fire service, we usually deal with smaller incidents, like a house or a car, so going from that to a whole town, village, city, an entire country affected by the earthquake, is probably one of the biggest things I’ve taken to heart and it will remain etched in my memory," he said.

The same feeling for Karl Keuneke, based at the Lincoln South fire station. "We’re used to seeing people at the worst moments of their lives, but on this scale, it’s completely different from what I’ve experienced," he said, noting that "many families" had "lost everything - their homes and their loved ones." The experience had served as a kind of "reality check." It allows you to appreciate what you’re going through. It makes you appreciate what you have," Woodmansey added.