By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Members of the Hays Fire Department, along with the Dodge City Fire Department, recently completed their annual Federal Aviation Administration certification training for airport firefighting operations.
The training is conducted using a mobile aircraft prop provided through a partnership between the Missouri University Fire and Rescue Training Institute and the Kansas Fire and Rescue Training Institute.
"This simulator provides, as realistic as we can, fires in the cockpit, fires in the passenger compartment, fires that would be in the cargo area, on the outside of the plane, and in pans (on the ground) that simulate a fuel spill," said Ryan Hagans, Hays fire chief. "They can also have fire along the outside of the plane and the wings, brake fires and tire fires.
"It provides as real-world training as it can for these types of aircraft incidents."
The training is required each year by the FAA for all airport firefighting operations in the nation.
The Hays Fire Department pays $10,500 to KU for the training, and spends another $250 for the propane it uses.
"But we're able to split some of the costs with the Dodge City Fire Department," Hagans said.
The prop uses propane and has emergency shut-offs inside the simulator to carefully control the exercise.
The simulator is controlled from a separate unit, where a MUFRTI employee is able to monitor the temperature and propane flow, and also shut down the simulator with the touch of a button.
Much of the day-long training utilizes handheld fire lines, practicing attacks with the fire trucks on site at the airport fire station.
"That way we get a chance to exercise those trucks and all the firefighters get a chance to drive them and operate the equipment."
Each Hays firefighter is certified in this type of firefighting, according to Hagans, although not every fire department that provides aircraft standby does that.
"We have every one of our members certified to provide this type of service. That's because we're a smaller department and we need everybody to be fully trained up in all our aspects that we do."
Airplane fires use more foam and dry chemicals to eliminate the oxygen the fire needs to sustain itself.
A plane fire often requires more personnel than a typical house fire.
"When we do our stand-bys for commercial passenger flights, we have one firefighter at the airport. If an incident would occur, we're all coming from (the downtown fire station)."
The fire department's new training facility does provide the opportunity to train with live fire, Hagans said, but on a much-reduced scale compared to the airplane mock-up.
"This does provide our guys the opportunity to get together with more than just their shift, a chance to build a little more camaraderie. It gets us as close to reality as we can."
The Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting program was created in 2001 and serves more than 100 airports in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa with funding provided by the Missouri Department of Transportation and the FAA.