TWO Handy Andy firefighters are heading across the waters to lend their roping expertise to foreign firefighters.

The duo, Andy Wilkinson and Andy Barnes, will be travelling to St Helena in the south Atlantic on Thursday, 26 April, to train the island's team of six firefighters in rope rescue techniques.

The island, which has a population of just 5,644, is mountainous and remote.

The islanders can get into serious difficulty when clambering down the cliffs, which is why the rope training is essential to keep up with modern techniques.

This is a skill used in Lancashire by firemen, at heights or in situations where access problems prevent the use of ladders or hydraulic rescue platforms. It is also used with conventional equipment to move casualties gently to safety.

Both Andys are experienced firemen who were part of the Lancashire team sent in response to the Indian earthquake disaster.

They follow in the footsteps of Colin Cunliffe, a former assistant divisional officer at Blackburn, Accrington and Darwen Fire Brigade and member of the British Executive Services Overseas.

Station Officer Barnes, 43, of Oswaldtwistle, is based at Blackburn Fire Station. He has been to turkey twice and to India helping in the aftermath of the earthquakes. He said: "A frequent mishap befalls local people who scramble down precipitous volcanic cliffs surrounding the island, some approaching 1000 feet high, and get stuck.

"On average two people die each year in resulting falls or are swept away by treacherous seas from the rocky shoreline in St Helena.

"

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer of St Helena, Derek Richards, was attending a course at Lancashire's International Training Centre, Washington Hall, Euxton, Chorley, when he was impressed by a demonstration of our rope rescue techniques and saw their relevance as a way of improving his team's capacity to complete successful rescues.

Before he visited Lancashire's International Training Centre Derek's fire crew were using one rope for rescues instead of a vital two ropes that are used in Lancashire as an extra life line in the case of the first rope failing.

Sub Officer, Andy Wilkinson, 40, of Preston, is based at Euxton training centre, in Chorley. He said: "Andy Barnes and I volunteered to help and are taking annual leave for our visit. On Thursday we fly to Cape Town, followed by five days on board a Royal Mail ship as there isn't an airport on St Helena."