LANCASHIRE firefighters back from Haiti have told of their ‘humbling’ hunt for survivors through the ‘utter chaos and devastation'.

The eight firefighters were given a heroes’ welcome at Manchester Airport on Saturday.

They had spent 12 days on the earthquake-hit Carribbean island searching for people trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

The team was involved in saving three lives following the devastating earthquake on January 12, which killed up to 200,000 and left more than a million homeless.

They were two-year-old, Mia, who spent more than three days in the wreckage of her nursery school before being dragged out by her pigtails, a 60-year-old man who had been trapped for four days and a 38-year-old woman.

Former watch manager at Blackburn and Burnley, Andy Barnes, of Oswaldtwistle, had been a firefighter for 30 years before retiring last year.

But the 52-year-old, who is married to Pam and has one daughter, Gemma, 22, leapt back into action to head up the team in Haiti.

He was joined by Blackburn-based Mark Southworth, 45, of Darwen, who has been a firefighter for 25 years and has dealt with the aftermath of earthquakes in Turkey, India and Pakistan.

Mr Barnes said they were touched by the welcome from Haitians.

He said: “We didn’t know how people would react to us as they might have directed their anger at the Government towards us. But it seemed that they put all these issues aside and totally welcomed our help, which was really humbling.”

Talking about the horrors on the streets, he said: “There were bodies everywhere but they were still trying to retain some dignity as they were covering them in blankets. It is a harsh world.”

Speaking of seeing his family again, he said: “I felt real happiness and Pam was really pleased to see me back in one piece. It is a double edged sword because you keep thinking about what you have left behind and you just hope that the people of Haiti will get through the disaster.”

The team worked from first light at 5.30am until 10pm each day in temperatures of around 40 degrees.

Mr Southworth, a father-of-two who is married to Jane, 30, said: “All you could see was devastation everywhere. It was utter chaos and extremely sad.”

He told of the joyous moment when he helped to free a 60-year-old man who had been stuck under a collapsed block of flats for four days.

“We cut through two solid floors of concrete and removed tons of rubble and he was stuck in a void no deeper than a foot but he had just been too weak from injuries and dehydration to be able to move any of the heavy blocks.

“When we finally pulled him out he was really shocked. All his family cheered and cried out. They couldn’t stop shaking our hands and we were just so relieved to have found somebody alive.”

Other Lancashire firefighters involved in the rescue were Martin Foran, of Haslingden, Leyland-based John McKie, from Morecambe, Leyland-based Graham Mossop, from Halton, Morecambe-based Mark Monkhouse, from Carnforth, Chorley-based Stuart Howarth, who also lives in the town.