INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT Aviation
I
t’s a typical Tuesday afternoon when a traveler through DFW International Airport notices something unexpected: A small plume of smoke coming from the southwest corner
of the airport. No one is alarmed. Not only is this planned situation not unusual at one
of the world’s busiest and largest airports, it’s also potentially life-saving for travelers the
world over. One of the many ways that DFW is leading in the aviation industry is by offering the most complete and advanced training in the industry for fighting fires at airports.
“
W
e’re the only ones in the U.S. – the only airport that has all the things you would want in a facility in one place,”
said Chief Alan Black, vice president and director of Public Safety at DFW International Airport.
Training approximately 2,000 firefighters annually – more than 20,000 since the facility
opened in 1994 – the Fire Training Research Center at DFW draws firefighters from the
world over to experience the best kind of hands-on training the industry offers. Firefighters from 42 states and 37 countries have come to DFW. From Japan, South Africa, Jamaica, Canada, Germany to Venezuela and more, firefighters journey to North
Texas to receive the kind of training they can’t receive anywhere else in the world.
“The training is very helpful for us. We don’t have a live fire training facility,” said Li Bo, tactic and training captain,
Beijing Capital International Airport. “After the live fire training, we get aircraft firefighting skills and the confidence
to deal with aircraft fire. Our captains who have attended the training know how to instruct their firefighters to improve firefighting skills. We also have improved our standard operating procedures and our training program.”
FALL/WINTER 2015
www.ntc-dfw.org
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