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'It's gonna get a little noisy': Blue Grass Airport demonstrates upgraded fire training simulator

Josh James
/
WUKY

Blue Grass Airport now hosts a state-of-the-art training center geared toward equipping firefighters from around the country with the skills to fight a wide range of fire-related emergencies involving aircraft. WUKY was there for the demonstration Wednesday.

"OK, so this is where it gets fun," Blue Grass Airport President Eric Frankl says, handing the microphone over to the "ohh, ahh guy," Chief of Public Safety Brian Wainscott.

A crowd of reporters, officials, and staff are about to see what the airport's Regional Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Training Center — fitted with a life-size mock passenger plane in the middle — is capable of.

"It's gonna get a little noisy," Wainscott warns.

Flames first snake down the wing, then spread to the pavement below, creating a plume of fire and smoke — and even some heat back in the viewing area.

The key in these cases, Wainscott says, is speed. Soon, a trio of firefighters hauls a hose to the scene and carefully contains the blaze. It's a special type of training only available at a dozen simulators around the country, and now Blue Grass hosts one of the newest. Unlike the previous facility, this system can create a variety of different scenarios, 28 to be exact, including inside the cabin.

"It's not like a house. It has its own unique set of conditions that you're gonna have to overcome," the public safety expert explains.

Wainscott notes, with each practice round, the procedures get revisited and improved. And while the type of situation in the demonstration isn't what you'd call common, he says firefighters train for the worst "whether that be smoke in the cabin or sadly, a full blown crash or an engine failure or something like that."

The upgrades also include a mobile mock Black Hawk helicopter that can be moved around to other training centers.

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.