“It’s always there in the back of your mind, you hope you never have to use it,” said John Ryan of the training those firefighters undergo.
The reality is there could be an emergency and for that reason having the most modern and reliable equipment available for those firefighters to use is of the utmost importance.
That’s why the airport is purchasing a new custom-built rescue and firefighting vehicle. The purchase will be made with $997,880 in funding from Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program. Long Range Mountains MP Gudie Hutchings announced the funding at the airport on Wednesday afternoon.
Ryan is the maintenance supervisor and on-scene incident controller at the airport.
He’s also an airport firefighter of 26 years, the last nine of which have been at the Deer Lake airport.
He’s not supposed to talk about them too much, but in his time he’s seen airplane crashes at some of the other airports he’s worked at.
He didn’t have specific statistics for Deer Lake, but said a few times a year they have situations where an aircraft will declare an emergency and the firefighters move into action.
“You just roll,” said Ryan.
He said the everyday routine for the airport is that 15 minutes before an aircraft lands and 15-20 minutes after one leaves a two-member crew will go on standby and have the airport’s two vehicles ready to move if something should happen. They’ll keep watch as refueling occurs and passengers enter and exit an aircraft.
The training involved to become an airport firefighter is pretty extensive and includes training in the types of fuel, how to deal with fuel and in operating specialized equipment.
“When I started my career it took like five years to become a full-fledged firefighter,” said Ryan.
The airport will send staff out for training and has had some trained at the Safety and Emergency Response Training (SERT) Centre in Stephenville.
In total there are 12 airport technicians at the airport who are cross-trained as airport rescue firefighters.
And while they may not encounter emergency situations all the time, they undergo training exercises every week.
The new truck, which will take about a year to acquire, will replace a 1995 E1 Titan rescue firefighting vehicle. The other vehicle in the airport’s rescue and firefighting fleet is an Oshkosh Striker 1,500 that was purchased in 2010 at a cost of $895,000.
