There’s Fire At Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, But Don’t Worry
If you look towards Henry Reid International Airport, you’ll see lines of planes in the sky lined up to land in Las Vegas. You’ll often see many plane geeks lined up along Sunset Road trying to catch a glimpse of a jumbo jet. Oh, and if you look this week, you’ll also see fire. But… don’t worry about that.
The best way to train firefighters is to have them fight actual fires, and that’s exactly what LAS’ Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Team will be doing beginning Thursday through the rest of the week.
⚠️ STARTING TOMORROW 3/16: Our Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting team (ARFF) will conduct live fire training this week at LAS. These exercises may cause intermittent noise, smoke and flames on the airfield. No need for alarm; it's part of the drill. pic.twitter.com/cPplZ7auO6
— Harry Reid International Airport (@LASairport) March 15, 2023
“Our Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting team (ARFF) will conduct live fire training this week at LAS,” the airport stated on Twitter. “These exercises may cause intermittent noise, smoke and flames on the airfield. No need for alarm; it’s part of the drill.”
Members of the team need to be prepared in case of a serious incident on the tarmac that would require their immediate attention. From crashes to engine failures and electrical shorts, they are called upon to be ready at a moment’s notice.
What do these trainings at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport look like?
If you want to get a better idea of what the firefighters are training for, you can look at one of the worst case scenarios from back in 2015.
British Airways flight 2276, a Boeing 777-200ER flying from Las Vegas to London with 170 souls on board was taking off on September 8th, 2015 when an engine failure resulted in a pretty destructive fire. The plane was able to hit the brakes and avoid taking off, and people were headed to the exits. LAS’ ARFF were on the scene within 5 minutes of the emergency and fought the flames right there on the tarmac. Thankfully everyone survived.
Trainings like this will make sure they are sharp if and when the next incident occurs.
