On March 26th, 2023, the West Midlands Fire Services UK ISAR team are walking the distance from the UK to Turkey – 1350 miles, doing 3-mile laps of Kinver Edge during a 12-hour period – from 7am until 7pm.

That’s 450 laps!

Why Kinver Edge?

It’s where ISAR runs its selection days and where the West Midlands team do their training exercises and the National Trust have very kindly said once again, we can use the Edge to help raise funds. You can join in the laps on your own or in relay or virtually. One lap, two laps, however many you can make to raise much needed financial aid which will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal.

To find out about the route and how to join in, download the PDF by clicking here.

To donate, click here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ukisar

Read more about our rescue mission….

“We were first on the scene in the Southern city of Hatay, which included many multi-storey buildings. As soon as we got close to the affected area it was evident how badly these people needed urgent assistance.

We rescued eight people in total including a family of three buried deep beneath their collapsed home. To get to the mother, father and their two-year-old daughter, we had to crawl through a 10m long tunnel that at times was so narrow, I had to remove my helmet to get through.

Towards the end of the third day, we located a man and a woman deeply entombed in the ruins of a fully collapsed seven-story hotel.

The operation to rescue them took 19 hours and involved every member of the UK ISAR team. Working in short, high intensity rotations, we breached through five floors and made a tunnel wide enough for one person to fit through.

As one team member worked at the front to break through the concrete, a line was formed behind passing the rubble back. By the time we rescued both of them, they have been trapped under rubble for nearly 130 hours.