Much anticipated airport fire fighter training is under way at the Campbell River Airport this week, featuring a high-tech simulated aircraft disaster scene.
"It's quite an extensive arrangement," Deputy Fire Chief Ian Baikie said Monday. "It arrives here on two semi-trailer trucks. You have a custom-built aircraft with a wing, landing gear and a motor that you can burn and walk through and make rescues from. It's a pretty elaborate, well-built machine. It's good training."
Back in June, the Campbell River fire fighters' union raised concerns that city fire fighters weren't adequately trained for crash/ fire/rescue at the airport, even though the city had discontinued its on-scene fire truck and designated city fire fighters as the first responders to airport emergencies.
The Fire Department contracted with the Edmonton International Airport training division to bring the equipment and three trainers to Campbell River. It's said to be one of only three such portable training systems in North America and the only one in Canada.
The aircraft unit is pulled by a semi-tractor that doubles as a command centre and pro-pane tanker. The fuselage, engine, landing gear and tail exhaust are all remotely propane fired. Even more visually arresting are three large propane-fired metal mats which simulate raging fuel spill fires. From the command centre, trainers can trigger any combination of different fires and smoke-filled fuselage rescue scenarios. The aircraft interior is also equipped to simulate 'flash-over' fires, sending flames racing along the ceiling and through the passenger compartment.
More devilishly clever still, trainees in the dark, smoke and flame-filled plane have to locate the sound of a crying baby in one exercise.
"We have three on-scene scenarios that they are involved in," said Campbell River Fire Chief Dean Spry. "They don't know what the scenarios are in advance. They just arrive as if they were coming on scene and they do the scenario as it develops.
"Part of the exercise was also some familiarization with some of the airplanes that come into Campbell River Airport."
Training started Sunday as roughly 36 fire fighters, split into two groups, each went through a day of theory and then a day on simulator exercises at the airport tanker base. Those receiving training included the city's full-time fire fighters, volunteer fire fighters and some from the Qualicum Beach Fire Department, officers from the Victoria International Airport Fire Department, the Nanaimo Fire Department and the Cranberry department.
Aside from its use at the Edmonton International Airport, the simulator system has been brought to Calgary and Vancouver for training exercises, but this is it's first trip to Vancouver Island. An added bonus for local fire fighters, the simulator system will be stored in Campbell River over the winter before more training dates on the Island and in Vancouver next spring. That could provide additional training opportunities locally over the winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment