A FIREFIGHTER who witnessed the devastation of India at first hand has joined the Lancashire Evening Telegraph in supporting the Earthquake Disaster Appeal.

Andy Barnes (pictured) was part of a three-man team from East Lancashire which visited the state of Gujarat in the wake of the 7.7 earthquake which killed more than 30,000 people and left almost double that homeless.

Along with Ged Richmond, based at Burnley, and Mark Southworth, of Blackburn fire station, Andy, sub-officer at Blackburn, was among a task force of North West firefighters who carried out a mercy mission in the stricken state.

And after witnessing just how bad things actually were, the married father-of-one has thrown his weight behind the appeal, which currently stands at more than £13,000.

It is estimated that 99 per cent of the Indian population in Blackburn has its origins in the state, mainly hailing from the three towns of Valsad, Surat and Bharouch. Andy, who lives in Norman Street, Oswaldtwistle, said: "The place is devastated. You can drive for 10 hours and all you see are towns and villages that have been destroyed.

"The campaign is a great idea because these people need all the help they can get.

"Their immediate needs are tents and blankets for the thousands that are homeless.

"It gets really cold out there and can drop to minus 10 degrees."

Andy and the team visited Bhuj, Bhachau and Ahmadabad, which were the most badly affected. They also saw the effect on districts like Valsad, Surat and Bharuch.

The team of East Lancashire firefighters saved many lives on their mercy mission, pulling survivors from the rubble.

But Andy said they took something away from it too. He said: "Amid all the devastation they somehow manage to retain an inner strength and the people taught us a lot about life. It certainly makes you think."

Andy is a veteran of earthquake rescue missions. In 1999 he visited Turkey twice when two earthquakes struck. The year before he was in Armenia after a large earthquake brought devastation.

But the sight of such destruction in India is one that will stay with him.

He said: "This was the worst I have seen. It was absolutely massive and the people definitely need our support."