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Exercise
teaches fire crews how to combat aircraft blaze
By
LETA NOLAN CHILDERS
Capital Journal Staff
Monday, August 29, 2005
Great
balls of fire burst from the fusilage of a simulator brought to Pierre for
training by the Pierre Volunteer Fire Department over the weekend. The $1
million simulator is owned by the University of Missouri. (Capital Journal photo
by Leta Nolan Childers)
Members of the Pierre Fire Department took part in specialized training this
weekend.
Thanks to a Homeland Security Grant, the department took part in a hands-on
demonstration
of
fighting an aircraft fire.
Developed by the University of Missouri, the aircraft allows firefighters to
experience fighting a fire in simulation. The university paid $1 million for it.
“This is the first time the simulator has come to South Dakota,” said Curt
Hasert, training officer for the fire department. “It gives firefighters the
chance to actually see how to fight fires on an airplane, both on the exterior
and the interior.”
After receiving classroom training, members of the department took turns in
groups of six to take on the exercise, three on the exterior battling a wing
fire and three on the interior to fight a cabin fire.
Safety was the primary consideration in the exercise. A training officer closely
monitored the exercise with controls to stop it if necessary. The exercise
coordinator, setting off the flames in a set order, also monitored through a
video connection the progress of the interior firefighters. Switches were also
placed inside the fuselage so the firefighters could end the exercise if
necessary.
“Where else could I get a job setting fires?” the coordinator from UM asked,
laughing as he torched the cockpit.
The simulator and control booth are constructed in such a way that they can be
connected and transported in one unit. The truck contains the control booth that
pulls down from a recessed compartment in the back of the cab. The plane folds
down into a compact unit. Special metal cases are placed around the tires to
protect them from the flames.
Jet fuel isn’t used in the simulation. Propane is used and the truck carries
two 200-gallon tanks to keep the action going for the firefighters.
The firefighters worked on the simulator all Saturday evening and part of
Sunday, interrupted only by a call to fight a rubble fire at a new house
construction site near Peoria Flats. The structure wasn’t damaged.
Story by: LETA NOLAN CHILDERS
Capital Journal, Pierre, SD
www.capitaljournal.com
For more information about the Pierre Fire
Department, e-mail the PFD
webmaster.
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