TRACY DOYLE
Guiding light
After helping in the aftermath of Turkey’s disastrous earthquake in February, Tracy Doyle is a beacon of hope in the London Fire Brigade
Words Alastair James
Photography Markus Bidaux HAIR & MAKEUP BY DAVID SESMERO
On 6 February 2023, London Fire Brigade temporary sub officer Tracy Doyle had taken the night off to visit her girlfriend near Birmingham, who she hadn’t seen for two weeks due to shift patterns. Then Tracy got the call. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake had struck Turkey and Syria. Homes had been destroyed and the death toll was mounting. In May, the Red Cross reported that 50,000 people had died and 100,000 more were injured.
Tracy was one of 77 International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team members who scrambled to respond. As one of the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team as well, Tracy has been trained to help when disaster strikes — but this was something else. The sheer scale of the chaos was unprecedented.