Courtesy Photo | A Fire Fighting Airman with the North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Civil...... read more read more
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Firefighters run into burning buildings, not out of them. It takes a very special individual to do that. To run into a burning metal tube loaded with several thousand gallons of jet fuel with hundreds of people trapped inside takes a very, very special team.
On Oct. 5, 2014, more than 20 Fire Fighting Airmen of North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Civil Engineer Squadron trained with over a dozen government agencies and private industry partners to practice a unified response to a disaster.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport Operations group turned a patch of concrete into a nightmare complete with two crashed airliners, flames and mass causalities.
Flames and smoke rise off the crash site as the Airmen with their partners in the Federal Aviation Administration, Charlotte Fire and Emergency Management, Police, Medic Emergency Medical Technician service and local airport employees begin the realistic exercise.
“It is not just about flames, you attack a fire, you save lives, maneuver, triage and get people to safety,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Daryl Cook, fire chief of the North Carolina Air National Guard.
There are nearly 100 injured passengers who must be moved to safety without injury to the victim. Medical experts must decide instantly who gets what treatment. Fire fighters are in a race against time as flames can rapidly turn a jet plane into a toxic oven.
Expert makeup and a little acting from the Red Cross volunteers playing crash survivors trapped in the airplane or scattered across the runway add to the realism of this training. The rescue maybe a simulation but it is an athletic feat to repeatedly carry an adult while wearing full firefighting gear including helmet and fire resistant suit.
The North Carolina Air National Guard has partnered with the Charlotte Fire Department since the 1950’s.
“We are a joint organization, it is so important to train together,” said Cook.
| Date Taken: | 10.05.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.18.2014 09:05 |
| Story ID: | 145410 |
| Location: | CHARLOTTE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 87 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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