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Air disaster exercise shows off Air Force, Red Cross collaboration
Annual exercise meant to showcase capabilities of on-base personnel
VIENNA
Feel The Heat
Video
Fire crews at YARS in conjunction with the American Red Cross demonstrated extinguishing aircraft fires.
Towers of flame sprang up beneath the wing of a facsimile C-130 aircraft and quickly engulfed the metal frame of the aircraft.
Within moments, firefighters from the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station were on the scene, dousing the flames with thousands of gallons of water.
Thursday’s simulated disaster – called “Feel the Heat” – was part of a joint demonstration by YARS and the American Red Cross Lake to River Chapter to promote the groups’ efforts and impacts on the surrounding region.
Karen Conklin, director of the Lake to River chapter, said the demonstration was in its third year and was meant to show the capabilities of the on-base firefighters.
John Lewis, the base fire chief, said the flames used in the demonstration were ignited from liquefied petroleum gas and reached 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Three vehicles responded to the fire, one command truck, a fire engine and a smaller fire truck called a Striker – it goes from zero to 50 mph in 20 seconds – which sprayed the initial volley of water onto the crash site.
Before the demonstration, Lewis explained his philosophy on community partnerships and the importance of mutual-aid agreements between YARS and the surrounding police departments.
“We have mutual-aid agreements with every department in Trumbull County and two in Mahoning County,” he said.
The Austintown and Youngstown fire departments have a mutual-aid agreement with YARS. Air base firefighters assisted in extinguishing a fire on Interstate 80 near Hubbard after a tractor-trailer burst into flames earlier this year.
Gary Banicki, fire chief of Negley in Columbiana County, was at the event and was impressed by the demonstration. He said his department would be pursuing a mutual-aid agreement with the air reserve station.
“We’re a small, rural department, and we’re about 50 miles south of here, but we have planes from the base flying directly over our area several times a day, plus we’re in the approach path for the Pittsburgh International Airport, so having access to these assets would be hugely beneficial for us,” he said.
In addition to fire professionals, a crowd of more than two dozen “VIP guests” of the Red Cross’s board of directors was on hand to watch the demonstration.
Jon Arnold, a member of the Red Cross Lake to River chapter’s board of directors, said the exercise was a means for the air base and the Red Cross to show supporters how their donation money was being spent.
“They can see with their own eyes that their money is going to support the military’s mission here as well as the Red Cross’s efforts to support military families in need, particularly in times of crisis,” Arnold said.