©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Firefighters Learn About Plane Crash Response |
A number of area firefighters gathered in Galesburg to learn how to deal with something that many admit before an incident a couple months ago, they wouldn't have known how to respond to.
Jet Air, the Galesburg Fire Department, the Western Illinois Firefighters Association, and other entities hosted a training exercise at the Galesburg Airport designed to deal specifically with how to respond to a possible plane crash, and how to fight any ensuing fire.
Galesburg Fire Battalion Chief Chip Timmons, who is also involved in Jet Air, tells WGIL the need arose for such an exercise when a plane had to make an emergency landing in late-January west of the Knox/Warren County line, but left firefighters scratching their heads.
"It caused them a little bit of concern, since nobody ever had any hands-on experience with an actual aircraft," Timmons said. "That's what this was all about -- a very basic appreciation for how airplanes are built, how to open passenger entry doors, where the emergency exits are, and where are the hazards."
The crews representing as many as a dozen area fire departments were shown various types of aircraft that the Galesburg Airport has at any given time -- something Timmons says many people might not realize.
They were also given a tour of the airport grounds, and specifically where fire hydrants are and how to get to them other than just by driving down typical paths there.
(A firefighter practices putting out a fuel fire using foam outside the Galesburg Municipal Airport Saturday.)
(Jet Air's Harrell Timmons, standing and wearing green, talks with some assembled firefighters about airplanes and plane parts.)
(Firefighters look at a Stearman plane and others housed at the Galesburg Municipal Airport.)
(More of the airplanes firefighters looked at Saturday. WGIL News Story and Photos by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 05 02 09 by Newsroom |
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