WE'RE so pleased you're home -- that was the message for three local firefighters when they returned to their families after searching for survivors in earthquake-stricken Algeria.

Martin Fisher, from Radcliffe, and Ray Clift, from Little Lever, were part of a 10-man Greater Manchester Fire Service team, led by Bolton-based Divisional Officer Dave Morris, which spent five days looking for victims in the earthquake rubble.

The trio arrived back at Philips Park fire station in Manchester at lunchtime yesterday. Wives and children eagerly awaited their return from the capital Algiers, where an earthquake struck last Wednesday.

They formed part of a 50-strong squad from the United Kingdom Fire Service Search and Rescue Team, which flew out from Stansted Airport last Thursday.

Despite only learning of the erathquake at 11am on the Thursday, the trio were ready to fly from Stansted just four hours later -- and were joining the hunt for survivors by Friday afternoon.

The team was based at the epicentre of the initial earthquake in Boumerdes, 40km east of Algiers. They camped at a sports stadium with 800 other rescue workers. The workers used a dog handling team and thermal imaging cameras to hunt deep into the remains of flattened buildings for survivors of the quake, which has killed more than 1,500 people.

But the firefighters faced the grim task of marking dead bodies for collection by local authorities.

Firefighters drew on their experiences of rescue operations in India and Turkey.

Mr Morris was also called into action following the 1996 terrorist attack in Manchester.

He explained that rescuers in Algeria were forced to battle with searing heat and poor sanitation. Mr Morris said: "The heat was a factor in the middle of the day when you consider what we were wearing. It was very dry and dusty.

"The sanitation system in the town was badly damaged, so it was important that we did our best to keep away from it.

"We knew that because of the way the buildings had come down, there were likely to be few survivors."

Mr Morris, aged 48, from Farnworth, was met by his son Alan, also a firefighter, and wife Christina.

Mr Clift, aged 52, who works at Swinton fire station, was reunited with his wife Susan.

He said: "The rescue operation was similar to the work we did in Turkey in 1999.

"We knew that there were going to be huge numbers of people trapped and often helpless -- but that's part of the job and we do our best."

Mr Fisher, aged 35, who works at the fire brigade training centre in Manchester, was met by his 11-year-old daughter Christie.

He said: "There was a great team spirit among everyone that had come to help.

"Even though many of us spoke different languages, we were able to work well together."

Mr Morris added that the Algerian people had given them plenty of help in what was a difficult rescue operation.

He said: "We worked alongside the local civil protection agencies because of the security risk in Algeria, but we found the people to be very friendly.

"The damage in Algiers looked slight, but in Boumerdes a lot of large buildings had come down and it was very difficult to get from one place to another."