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Lincolnshire firefighters prepare for Japan role

Seven Lincolnshire firefighters were deployed to Japan as part of the UK’s Urban Search and Rescue Team this weekend.

Lincoln’s Neil Fritzsche, Operation Commander for the UK, and Grantham’s Andy Ford, Lincolnshire Team Leader, have arrived with their colleagues today ready to search an area approximately 75 miles to the south of the airbase at Misawa. Their role will be to assist rescue efforts and look for survivors in the town of Ofunato, a coastal town hit by the Tsunami with a population of 42,000 people.

Dave Ramscar, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue’s Chief Fire Officer, said:

“All the team have arrived safely and are fit and well.  The plan is to set up a base of operations at a suitable site close to Ofunato and get to work as quickly as possible. Despite the extensive damage in Ofunato, there are a number of structures still intact in the town which require assessment and searching.  At this stage of the operation the search dogs will be highly effective at detecting signs of life over the large areas involved.

“If there are any signs of life the teams will then concentrate their efforts in these areas with specialist tools that can penetrate reinforced concrete and metal to gain access to victims and shoring equipment that allows team members to maintain a safe working position during rescue operations.

“Given the news of the failure of the cooling systems and subsequent explosions in the Nuclear Power Station at Fukushima, there are obviously concerns over the heightened risk.  However, the team’s location is some 200kms from the site and has been deemed safe to enter. All staff have been issued with personal dosimeters and the team is equipped with radiation survey meters. The current and predicted wind conditions are very favourable for preventing any spread of contamination towards the team so no problems are anticipated.”

The Lincolnshire representatives are Neil Fritzsche (Ops Commander for the UK) – Lincoln; Andy Ford (Lincolnshire Team Leader) – Grantham; Steve Hogg, Chris Jefferson, Chris Lowe, Alun Roberts, Shaun Yates - all from Lincoln.  Meanwhile, Neil Woodmansey is playing a UK role, carrying out Family Liaison and Welfare.

The Lincolnshire team will be working with two American Search and Rescue teams from Fairfax County and Los Angeles County.

Article Published: 15/03/2011

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