The required rapid response keeps most of those incidents small and contained, said Greg Fuller, assistant fire chief and training officer at Minneapolis-St. Typical ARFF calls include engine fires, aircraft incidents including landing gear malfunctions or blown tires, and aircraft sliding or driving off the runway or taxiway. “If an airport cannot meet its ARFF requirements, it affects the air carrier operations at the airport.” “The ARFF departments play a significant role in the day-to-day operations at airports,” said FAA spokeswoman Marcia Alexander-Adams. Aircraft rescue and firefighting is the only federally regulated firefighting service. “When those students come to us, they may have seen or been involved in a situation that’s something that we can learn from as well.” Day-to-day operationsĪcross the country, 519 airports host departments with active ARFF certification through the FAA under regulations collectively called Part 139. “We’re able to provide that service, and pass along the knowledge that we have gained to others, and see how they handle the situations, but it is two-fold,” Bonura said.
In addition to day-to-day classroom and physical ARFF training, programs at PIT prepare up to 1,000 firefighters per year from as far away as San Juan, Puerto Rico, using a computer-controlled simulator system and aircraft fuselage for burns using propane. Training to handle ARFF, like other parts of firefighting such as hazardous materials or emergency medical services, is essential and a part of every day for firefighters at Pittsburgh International Airport, said Deputy Fire Chief Tom Bonura. Airport firefighters must be prepared to handle any emergency event on an airfield. “Preparedness starts with risk assessment, then you look at your critical tasks,” he said. The biggest key to quick response is being prepared, said Ron Krusleski, chairman of the ARFF Working Group, a Texas-based organization that connects airport fire departments around the world. That should give passengers and the greater airport community confidence that every aspect of their safety is being considered when coming to our airports.” “Our training and preparedness must meet many additional required certifications in order to meet federally mandated regulations. “We are more than just your typical fire department,” said Denise Pouget, fire chief of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which serves Reagan National and Dulles International airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires airport fire departments to answer those calls as part of Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting, commonly known as ARFF.īut these first responders handle much more than fires or crashes involving airplanes and passengers, which are thankfully rare. When an emergency call comes in from an airplane at just about any airport in the country, help is only three minutes away.
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