Basic Aircraft Firefighting Hazards

BY JACOB McAFEE

I have been responding to aircraft accidents and mishaps my entire career, and I have seen some of the amazing ways aircraft hazards can sneak up on you and challenge you to think outside the box. Have you heard that once an aircraft is on the ground, it’s no different from a structure fire? I don’t agree; I have been a part of multiple rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft crashes for military and civilian aircraft. In that time, only three have actually crashed on the airfield. Why is that important? Because mutual-aid partners of aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) response organizations typically arrive first and apply the same strategy and tactics that normally would apply at any other fire. This is not good because the chief or company officer is making decisions without knowing the hazards that threaten him and his firefighters. Too often, aircraft hazards are taken for granted or not even considered.

For years, my organization has pushed basic military and civilian aircraft hazard training delivery to our mutual-aid partners for just this type of scenario. If you have the potential to arrive on scene of a military or civilian aircraft incident in your jurisdiction before the local ARFF response, you should have, at least, a minimal understanding of how to recognize the type of aircraft involved, even if it’s as simple as knowing whether it is a military or civilian plane. You should begin by recognizing whether this type of scenario is possible in your response area. Typically, when you develop your scope of services or standard of response coverage, you won’t include aircraft response if you’re not at an airfield. Initially, viable options include something as simple as a mutual-aid aircraft book, an aircraft prefire plan book available for mutual-aid response, or providing relevant information to your dispatchers. This problem may arise more when the partnering agencies have different capabilities.