When the Australian search and rescue team arrives in Turkiye this week, they will be looking out for big voids amid the collapsed buildings.
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Illawarra lead firefighter and trainer Shane Bonsall said these were the places where survivors were most likely to be found.
"That's where life can be there, ready for us to rescue," Mr Bonsall, who trains the specialised Urban Search and Rescue firefighters who make up the bulk of the 72 personnel heading to the aftermath of the country's devastating earthquake, said.
"But they'll also be searching in really horrible, tight dark, voids, and probably going through aftershocks, and seeing horrible sights that nobody needs to see - but just to save one life makes it all worthwhile."
Six firefighters from the Illawarra - including two based out of the Wollongong fire station - are part of the mission, which includes 52 specialist USAR firefighters as well as paramedics, doctors, engineers and police.
Mr Bonsall, and USAR-trained Wollongong Inspector Greg Purvis are watching on with pride
"This is seen as the pinnacle of what we can do in our field of rescue," Insp Purvis said.
"Our whole career is about helping people and this is just another step."
However, he said there was also some some trepidation for what awaits his colleagues, as the death toll from the earthquake has topped 24,000.
"It's going to be pretty bad," he said.
"I went to Christchurch in 2011 and that was quite devastating, and that was in a modern, Western city but they are going into some of these towns which are not as advanced.
"From the footage we can see lots of collapses, lots of people trapped. It's gong to be cold - it's been minus 10 at night - and they're going to be working 24 hours a day over there."
He said the number of people being pulled from the earthquake wreckage dead would be the most confronting aspect of the mission, as would the conditions facing survivors.
"There's going to be lots of people with nothing," he said.
"One of the big challenges in that situation it that we've got food and water we take to sustain ourselves, and you can see people with no food - but we need to maintain our crews who are there rescuing. It's very challenging to see all these people in need.
"We're there to search through these collapsed buildings, shore up the buildings, cut the concrete and try and save people who have been trapped."
Inspector Purvis is part of the incident management team for USAR and can plug in to exactly what's happening on the ground via a dashboard showing where the international rescue teams are.
"Right now, you can see there are 135 teams in country from around the world, with 13 still on the way and you can see on the map that we've got USA, Greece, Lithuania, Mexico and Pakistan all working in this one town," he said.
"For example in one area, we can see they are reporting 143 live rescues, and 37 rescues in progress - as well as the missing and deceased people - and it's an effort that's coordinated and widespread across the country."
Mr Bonsall, who trains USAR personnel, said the Australians would carry almost everything they need to sustain them for 14 days in difficult conditions.
They'll be searching in really horrible, tight dark, voids, and probably going through aftershocks, and seeing horrible sights that nobody needs to see - but just to save one life makes it all worthwhile.
- Shane Bonsall
"When we deploy we have 22 tonnes of gear we take, so we are totally self-sufficient and don't draw any resources from the locals other than transport," Mr Bonsall said.
"Water, food, accommodation, basically everything is taken on the aircraft."
Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Steph Cooke said the firefighters were among the most skilled in the world.
"Our State is home to some of the most highly-skilled emergency services personnel in the world and I am certain they will make a valuable contribution to the response in the devastated communities," she said.
"All of the personnel taking part in this mission have extensive training in rescue activities and I thank them for answering this call for assistance."
FRNSW Commissioner Paul Baxter said the training and preparation firefighters undertake every day at their home stations would serve them well in Turkiye.
"Our FRNSW teams have extensive experience in USAR operations and I know they'll be able to hit the ground running," Commissioner Baxter said.
"It is always horrible to see incidents like this occur, but it is reassuring to know that we have such professional and specialised emergency crews to call upon to assist."