Fire fighters put through paces at Sydney Airport

22-03-2011 -

Airservices Australia will be conducting simulated aviation rescue and fire fighting exercises at Sydney Airport as experienced fire fighters are put through their paces.

From today until 8 April, 12 fire fighters will be put through a series of training scenarios during which they build on their highly specialised skills in aviation fire fighting and rescue procedures. This includes the rescue and multi-vehicle aviation response driving and structural fire response.

At the completion of the training they will have achieved a Diploma in Firefighting Management, allowing them to progress to the position of Station Officer.

Airservices spokesman Rob Walker said the exercises will involve the creation of large amounts of flame and smoke as the officers practice their fire fighting skills.

“Airport users and the public should not be alarmed by smoke, fire or an unusually high number of emergency vehicle movements at the airport during this time,” Mr Walker said.

“Our fire fighters are there to protect the public in the unlikely event things go wrong at major airports. They respond to a host of different incidents every day ranging from medical emergencies to building fire alarms and aircraft emergencies.”

Airservices provides Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) services at 21 of Australia’s busiest airports. It has one of the largest and most professional ARFF services in the world, with more than 700 fire fighters.

On average, Airservices fire fighters are called out around 150 times a week across Australia’s regional, domestic and international airports. In the past two years they have saved more than 20 lives.

The service also operates the largest fire fighting vehicles in Australia – high visibility Mk8 ultra-large Fire Vehicles which can discharge almost 9000 litres of water within two minutes of arrival at an emergency.

Training exercises will take place between 8:30am and 4pm most days within the fire training ground located near Gate 16.

For media enquiries please call 02 6257 2828 or email media@airservicesaustralia.com.

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