From Ground Crew to becoming a Rescue and Firefighter at my local airfield

As you will already know I work as Ground Crew at my local airfield. As of recently I am now a rescue and fire fighting (RFFS) responder to aircrafts in distress. Let’s hope there is no such emergency but it’s great being trained up to work in a team to respond in emergencies. Although I say this – recently I had to respond to a Pan involving a bird strike to the nose of the aircraft in downwind – gladly the pilot and the aircraft landed safely with a few scratches to nose which can be fixed!

My day in fire training started with a full english breakfast (absolute essential for the day!). Followed by choosing my fire kit and familiarisation of the various components on the emergency response vehicles. We also went over how to respond in different situations – whether there is a fuel leak fire, electrical or post-crash fire. Post-crash fires are unique as you’ll be firefighting as well as assessing the safety situation and considering any rescue efforts.

I then had a quick tea break whilst watching out onto the airfield. After a quick break I had my fire-fighting validation with a real fire. I was made to wait a considerable distance away from the fire. On the cue of the ground crew manager I had to change into my fire-fighting kit and respond to the fire as quickly as I could. It went well! I was told I responded quickly and was on site within minutes. However, in the rush I rolled out the hose into a bush! Thank God it continue rolling past the bush and out the other end – otherwise it’d been quite embarrassing having a tangled hose. But it’s all a learning curve! Overall, it was a great experience!

Here is a photo dump of my day in fire training :

I am now looking forward to work towards my Aerodrome air/ground communication service radiotelephony exam – which will include a speaking and written examinations. In the near future I look forward to creating a blog sharing my experience around this.