Ian Holden

District Manager and ISAR Coordinator for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Central Fire and Rescue Station

Ian joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in 1986 as a retained (part time) firefighter. At this time Ian was also working as a coal face electrician for the National Coal Board (later British Coal), a role which gained him 14 years’ underground service working at Ellistown and Nailstone Collieries. In 1991, upon the closure of the pits, Ian moved to wholetime duties, serving at Loughborough, Coalville, Western, Eastern and Central stations and at the training department.

In October 2003, Ian was seconded onto the New Dimension project for USAR implementation, where he sat on national working groups for the USAR national risk assessment process, personal protective equipment selection, and module equipment selection. He was also chair of the national working group on confined spaces, and set up the Technical Rescue team at Southern Fire and Rescue Station.

Ian's experiences with ISAR include refugee camp planning in Cumbria in 1998, a European joint rescue exercise in Finland in 1999, and attending the A&M University USAR school in Texas, USA, both as a student in 2003, and later in 2004 and 2005 as an instructor. Ian has also attended as Sector Commander, Command Support Officer, and as Operations Commander for a number of national ISAR exercises and heavy rescue team assessments at Fort Widley, Hampshire, between 2004 and 2010, and was EU Civil Protection Liaison Officer at the European Civil Protection Mechanism training in Hamburg, Germany, in 2009.

Ian has been deployed to a number of national and international incidents, including an open area night search for a missing person in the Gumley area of Leicestershire in 1996, an earthquake in Izmit, Turkey in 1999, a major building explosion in Glasgow in 2004, and the Indonesian earthquake in 2009, where he led the Leicestershire team.

Steve Hare

Watch Manager, Technical Rescue, Southern Fire and Rescue Station

Steve joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in February 1991, having previously served for 14 years in the British Army as a sergeant in the Royal Engineers.

Steve has been a member of ISAR for over ten years. During this time he has attended training courses and exercises at Fort Widley, Hampshire, and in Scotland, and has been deployed to major incidents including a major building explosion in Glasgow in 2004, and the Indonesian earthquake in 2009.

Steve’s personal interests include gundog training, jogging, walking, and cycling.

Andy Hartley

Watch Manager, Technical Rescue, Southern Fire and Rescue Station

Andy began his professional career at the age of 18 with the Royal Air Force, joining in December 1981 as an Airfield Crash Firefighter. Andy’s six years’ service with the RAF included a six-month tour of duty on Ascension Island and a year in Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada.

In 1988, Andy joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service as an operational firefighter. Four years later, Andy was promoted to Crew Manager, a position he held for seven years before being promoted again to Watch Manager. He currently serves as Watch Manager on the Technical Rescue team.

Andy has been a member of ISAR for over ten years. During this time he has attended training courses and exercises in the USA, Poland, Germany and the UK, and has been deployed to major incidents including a major building explosion in Glasgow in 2004, and the Indonesian earthquake in 2009.

Neil Mayne

Watch Manager, Technical Rescue, Southern Fire and Rescue Station

Neil joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in 1982, having previously worked at the Amoa Chemical Company since leaving school.

Neil was one of the founder members of the Leicestershire ISAR Team, joining at its inception in 1993.

Neil has attended a number of exciting training courses around the country, which have included such activities as walking, camping, boat operations, and helicopter riding. Neil however feels that his UK training courses pale in comparison to the Urban Search and Rescue course he attended in College Station, Texas, USA, following 9/11.

Neil’s deployments include the earthquake in Rouiba, Algeria in 2003, where he attended as part of the dog search team. During this deployment the team was used to search a number of sites for missing persons, working alongside the charity RAPID UK and a team from Italy.

Craig Hallam

Crew Manager, Central Fire and Rescue Station

Craig joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in July 2006, having previously been a professional footballer, an airport firefighter at East Midlands Airport, and a firefighter at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Craig became a member of ISAR in April 2009. During this time he has attended a training course at RAF Waddington, and been involved in Exercise Orion at Fort Widley, Hampshire.

In his free time, Craig enjoys spending time with his daughters.

Mick Wallis

Crew Manager, Loughborough Fire and Rescue Station

Mick joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in August 1995, having previously worked as a car mechanic, an electrician, and an electrical engineer.

Mick has been a member of ISAR since 1999. During this time he has been deployed to major incidents including a major building explosion in Glasgow in 2004.

Mick’s personal interests include running, triathlon, and cycling.

Steve Willatt

Crew Manager, Eastern Fire and Rescue Station

Steve joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in March 1991, and became a member of the Leicestershire ISAR team in February 2009.

Since joining ISAR, Steve has attended various courses including Exercise Orion at Fort Widley, Hampshire in September 2010, and an Urban Search and Rescue course at RAF Waddington in 2010.

Steve’s personal interests include driving, motorcycling, walking, cycling and socialising.

Chris Rollestone

Firefighter, Central Fire and Rescue Station

Chris joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in 1985 as a firefighter, having previously worked as a motor vehicle mechanic.

Chris was one of the founder members of the Leicestershire ISAR Team, where his background in mechanical engineering was used to maintain the original team equipment which used to be stored at Central Fire and Rescue Station. Chris’ deployments include a training course at the A&M University Urban Search and Rescue school in Texas, USA, and the Algerian earthquake in 2003.

Chris’ interests include sailing and motorcycling. He is currently studying for his Yacht Masters qualification, and he regularly organises trips to battlefields and memorials of the First and Second World Wars.

Mark Bryers

Trauma Care Coordinator, Training and Development Department

Mark joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in September 1990, having previously served with London Fire Brigade.

Mark attended the original ISAR selection course in 1993, and was picked to be a reserve for the initial team. Since this time, and from his role with the Training and Development department, Mark has been involved with ISAR in both an operational and support role. During this time he has attended various training sessions and exercises, mainly in the role of a medic and providing media support. Most recently, Mark was deployed to the Haiti earthquake with a team of doctors from the charity Humanity First, to provide medical aid to the earthquake victims.

In 2006, Mark gained his Doctorate in Emergency Medical Services (DSc) and is also a SR Paramedic and a member of BASICS, where he keeps his clinical skills up to date by working part time with East Midlands Ambulance Service and 48th Medical Group, USAF, in their Emergency Department.

Chris Geary

Firefighter, Central Fire and Rescue Station

Chris joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in January 2000, and has been a member of ISAR since July 2009.

Chris’ experiences with ISAR include winter training in Scotland in April 2010, Exercise Orion at Fort Widley, Hampshire in September 2010, and a winter exercise at Weeze, Germany in December 2010

Chris’ personal interests include cycling, running, walking, and motorsport.

Ken Hughes

Firefighter, Technical Rescue, Southern Fire and Rescue Station

Ken joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in September 1994, having previously been a professional footballer. During his time at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service he has served at Hinckley, Central, Southern and Eastern Fire and Rescue Stations.

Ken became a member of ISAR in 2004. His experiences with ISAR include a number of training exercises, and his deployments include a major building explosion in Glasgow in 2004, and the Indonesian earthquake in 2009.

Ian Nuttall

Firefighter, Technical Rescue, Southern Fire and Rescue Station

Ian joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in May 2003.

Prior to joining Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Ian attended the University of Birmingham and graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Geoscience in June 2001. In 2002 he lived in Zakynthos, Greece, for almost six months, where he did volunteer conservation work and helped to protect the Loggerhead Sea Turtle and its environment.

In 2006, Ian transferred to the Technical Rescue team. As a member of Technical Rescue, Ian is trained to respond to incidents of a technical nature, including road traffic collisions, rope, water, and Urban Search and Rescue incidents, as well as confined space and large animal rescues. In 2009, Ian successfully completed a Diploma in Specialist Rescue from Coventry University.

Ian passed the ISAR selection course in March 2009. Since then he has attended various training events and evening lectures in addition to helping to coordinate personal and deployment equipment for the team.

Chris Pritchard

Firefighter, Technical Rescue, Southern Fire and Rescue Station

Chris has trained and worked with dogs for the past 26 years, serving in the Armed Forces (Infantry) in a number of operational theatres around the world, before being transferred to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, where he became an instructor. This role consisted of training both handlers and dogs for the different types of roles the UK forces carried out at that time, including guard, security, drugs, arms explosive, tracker and police dogs.

Chris joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in 2000, where he served as a retained (part time) firefighter, and as a wholetime firefighter since 2004. Since joining ISAR in 2000, one of his main achievements has been the implementation and coordination of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) dog teams into the programme; these are made up from a number of different UK Fire and Rescue Services and funded centrally by the UK government. Chris was instrumental in deploying one of the first disaster search and rescue dogs from the UK to a major earthquake (Colombia, 1999) with the charity RAPID UK. Since then, he has deployed USAR dogs to Turkey in 1999, and to the Algerian earthquake of 2003, where he also coordinated other dog teams in carrying out these roles. He has also participated in the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) IEC for UK ISAR’s initial classification in 2006 and the first INSARAG reclassification which took place in 2009.

Chris has project managed a number of USAR dog projects abroad and currently supports the International Rescue Dog Organisation in a number of areas, one of these being an evaluator for Mission Readiness tests.