DFW Airport On Cutting Edge Of Fire Technology

Firefighters from around the world come to North Texas each year to receive training that may save your life and others. DFW International Airport is one of only a few places that has a specialized program to respond to aircraft disasters.

A thick, dark plume of smoke rising into the air is the last thing many people want to see over an airport. But this time it’s only a training exercise at DFW International to prepare firefighters for a real disaster.

“Hopefully, it’s something no one has to experience here, but we’re ready” says DFW firefighter Jenn Veggors.

It’s Veggors’ job to race to the scene in a strike vehicle and start dousing any aircraft on fire.

“I love it, it’s a lot of fun, its also a lot of pressure, but I think knowing you’re capable of doing this, it’s really cool.”

Training for disasters is especially important, especially when you consider DFW has more than two thousand take-offs and landings each day.

“It’s one of the largest airports in the world” says DFW fire division commander Adrian Garcia.

DFW has seen its share of disasters. Among them an August 1985 Delta Airlines flight that crashed while landing during a severe thunderstorm in a phenomenon called a microburst. 135 people died, only 27 survived.

Captain Mica Calfee remembers driving through the storm to get to the scene. He and others from the Irving fire department were among the first responders that day.

“We were up on the freeway, and we didn’t know what we had until I looked out at the field and saw what I thought was the silhouette of a small plane. Turned out, it was the small remains of a much larger plane.”

Calfee says two months before, they trained for this kind of tragedy. “It was instrumental on that day in 1985, and instrumental as well in keeping us prepared for any other emergency in the future.”

Each year, hundreds of firefighters receive training at DFW Airport. They’re not only from here, but from across the country and beyond. Firefighters from Germany and Taiwan have trained here, and some may be coming soon from China.”

DFW’s program has become world-reknown since 1995, when the airport started training firefighters to battle flames inside aircraft.

“There really wasn’t a facility in the U.S. that focused on internal firefighting. So there was a need, so this facility was built to meet that need” says DFW Fire Chief Brian McKinney.

“When we do this, all the doors are closed, and it’s filled with smoke.”

Inside a mock-up of a 737-sized jet, firefighters use propane to safely train for the worst scenarios.

“We actually light multiple fires, so when our firefighters make entry, they have to come up with an incident action plan and figure out which direction they’re going to first in extinguishing the fire” says Adrian Garcia.

Jim Floyd, a firefighter at McKinney’s airport, which hopes to attract airline service in the future, says he’s learned just how quickly fire can spread inside a plane.

“Response time is vitally important, and once you get there, you have to know what you want to do on a fire, cause you have to mitigate the situation as fast as you can so you can save the passengers that are in the airline.”

“When the bell goes off, you have to be ready, and all that starts here” says Chief McKinney.

And DFW has plans to expand again. They’re hoping to obtain a mock-up of a wide-body jet next.
By Jack Fink at KTVT Dallas Fort Worth