Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 26/03/2010 08:56

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is used to being involved with acts of heroism but three of their finest have gone even further as they travelled as volunteers with Helston based charity Shelterbox to help bring aid to earthquake torn Haiti.

On Tuesday 12 January 2010 at 16.53 local time, a massive earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the Caribbean island of Haiti. By the 24 of January at least 52 aftershocks, some measuring more than 4.5 on the Richter scale had been recorded. The devastation was unimaginable and the worlds aid agencies and charities were mobilised to deliver help to those most in need.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service Area Manager Mark Boeck and firefighters Greg Rogers from Camborne Community Fire Station and Ian Neal from Penzance Community Fire Station are all Shelterbox volunteers and were mobilised to contribute to the international disaster relief effort.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service firefighter, Ian Neal initially flew out to Miami with a brief to ensure the logistics were in place to forward the vital Shelterboxes to Haiti. Ian followed the Shelterboxes into Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti, via the Dominican Republic.

Ian then worked in partnership with the UN, local Rotary, and logistics companies, helping to distribute aid to hospitals and orphanages.

Next out was Mark Boeck, his brief was to support the team leader and then take over the leadership role. Mark then oversaw a successful distribution of large quantities of Shelterboxes via the American 82nd Airborne.

Firefighter Greg Rogers followed next and, having had 24hrs to acclimatise, was deployed to the badly hit coastal area of Jacmel, 4 hours south of Port au Prince. His brief was to assess the situation and establish the necessary logistics to get the Shelterboxes into the area. He was able to arrange for delivery and distribution of 100 boxes within 24hrs and a further 150 4 days later.

Greg Rogers from Camborne Community Fire Station said: “Looking back on the deployment it was felt that, despite our combined experience, Haiti had been a major challenge and a steep learning curve, mainly due to the scale of the disaster, but also because of the challenging nature of distributing aid in such a volatile environment. More than 7,000 boxes have been distributed to date, shelter for a potential 70,000 people. Altogether it was a valuable experience and a great opportunity to represent Shelterbox, Cornwall, and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service at one of the world’s biggest disasters.”