The UH-60 Lima Black Hawk came into view Dec. 9 in the skies over Fort McNair just as the sirens from two Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall fire trucks sounded.
As the helicopter from 12th Aviation Battalion's Bravo Company at Fort Belvoir made a simulated hard landing in a field, joint base firefighters raced from the trucks with hoses and medical equipment as they took part in an aircraft rescue and firefighting, or ARFF drill. The drill was part of a week-long triennial U.S. Army Installation Command Fire and Emergency Services Program assessment.
ARFF is a special category of firefighting that involves the response, hazard mitigation, evacuation and possible rescue of aircraft passengers and crew involved in a ground emergency.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nate Parks, who piloted the Blackhawk, called the training "excellent."
"You never want to do something for the first time when it's a real world situation," he said. "Us landing here and getting with the fire department is just a part of the training we can do and accommodate them to ensure the safety of the entire National Capital Region."
Parks and his crew briefed firefighters on how to unhook seat belts and on how to remove the helicopter's windows and doors. "You don't know the nuances that are involved, the things they don't know, until you actually do it," he said. "So, working here today with [Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Fire] Chief [Russell] Miller, with the fire department and letting them put their hands on the aircraft is just one way that I really think if [an accident] was to happen, they can do [a rescue] safely and effectively."
Miller said the training did a couple of things for his firefighters.
"It's a requirement of the Fire and Emergency Services program," he explained. "It gave us an opportunity to be assessed on aircraft emergency response. It identified our capabilities, our strengths and weaknesses."
A simulated structural fire at Bldg. 434 (the old pool house) on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base Dec. 10 served as the second part of the training. Assistant Fire Chief Jon Culberson. The scenario required responders to put out the fire, ventilate the building and search for victims.
"The training is vital," he said. "We do drills several times a year. We also do live fire evaluations at [civilian and DoD] fire academies where we set fires and put them out."
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