January, Dane Smith, Gavin Kearsley and Martin Foran from the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service flew to Mozambique to support search and rescue efforts after what’s been described as the country’s worst flooding in a generation.
The trio recall flying into Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, and seeing the extent of the flooding from the sky. Gavin says:
“It was quite clear there was a crisis. We had obviously seen the news reports, but seeing the mass flooding for ourselves – we wanted to get down there and help.”
Reports estimate over 850,000 people have been impacted by the devastating floods, with 77,000 people left homeless.
As part of the UK ISAR team – funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Dane, Gavin and Martin worked with local authorities and community members to rescue people cut off by the flood waters, transport them to medical care, and deliver food after crops were destroyed.
It was Dane’s first deployment with the UK ISAR team, and on day one he was in a helicopter, delivering food to communities cut off by the flood waters. He was inspired by how positive the Mozambican people were, despite the desperate situation they were in.
“As we flew down in the helicopter, we could see these people all dancing and singing, in a line waiting for the aid to be delivered. Then as soon as we left they would rush forward to collect food and we could see the reality of how hungry they were.”
The team of British firefighters battled difficult conditions to help rescue over 80 people.
Gavin remembers rescuing an elderly man who had been trapped in a makeshift house for a week.
“There was a 70 year-old man who’d had a catheter put in before the floods. When we found him he was struggling with sepsis and infection. We managed to get him on our boat, and then transported him back across the flood-waters to a hospital.”
Over the past three decades, UK ISAR has earned a reputation as the world’s premier rapid response team for international emergencies, delivering life-saving support to people in a range of crisis situations, and providing invaluable real-world training for UK firefighters that they can bring back to their home services.
Gavin and Martin both received the Humanitarian Medal for being part of the UK ISAR team that helped rescue civilians from rubble after a severe earthquake hit Morocco in 2023.
UK Minister for Development, Jenny Chapman saw the UK ISAR team in action when she visited Mozambique last month.
UK Minister for Development, Jenny Chapman said: “When I met the UK ISAR team in Mozambique, I was really impressed by their professionalism and commitment. I heard how they had rescued dozens of people, used drones to scout out otherwise unreachable areas and made sure life-saving provisions got to those cut off by the floods. The work they do is genuinely amazing and I’m proud that we could support it.”
The team says that they were able to save so many lives thanks to multiple teams and countries working in partnership.
A local man lent the team his compound to store their equipment. Mozambican drivers mapped out new routes for cars when the main roads were flooded. And teams from neighbouring South Africa used helicopters to deliver supplies to people cut off by the flood water. Martin says:
“Sharing information between different teams was massively beneficial. We were trying to map out the area and the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team had this satellite image showing all the roads which were open and closed. It just sped everything up so we could get out and help people much more quickly.”
Now back in the UK, the team say their deployment to Mozambique was challenging but rewarding, and they gained valuable skills and experience that will help them in their daily jobs at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
“It was only when we came away that I started to see photographs of the work we were doing, and I realised, perhaps I have made a difference there.
“We have to thank the FCDO for their support and funding. Without that, we wouldn’t be able to go and rescue people, or to help people get back to normality after a crisis,” Gavin says.
