By their very nature emergencies don’t follow the routine script.
Duane Kling, Moses Lake, an instructor for the Air Rescue Firefighter program at Big Bend Community College, used the example of the door on a large commercial aircraft. Those things are meticulously engineered, to the point where a 120-pound flight attendant can open an 800-pound door, he said. But if that plane happens to be involved in an accident, the challenge of opening the door changes completely, not just for crew and passengers inside but also for emergency workers trying to open the door from the outside.
What do fire crews do when an airplane fuel tank ruptures? If the plane is big enough the tank is under pressure, and the fuel sprays from the tank rather than leaking. Different materials require different responses - an aluminum fuselage will burn more quickly than one made of composite materials, but burning composites release potentially harmful smoke.
The ARFF classes are designed to test firefighters with those challenges and more. The program is a partnership between BBCC, the Port of Moses Lake and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Fire departments that need air rescue training have a lot of different options, from a five-day course covering the basics to custom classes designed specifically for that department. On Friday firefighters from Pasco and Lewiston were participating in “recurrent live fire training,” a one-day course required annually by the FAA.