VIDEO: If you’ve noticed smoke near the Augusta Airport over the last couple of days, that’s because crews are doing emergency training.
We were there to learn more about how first responders prepare in case an emergency happens on the runway.
“It can get extreme, very extreme heat. A lot higher heats than you would normally find,” said Richard Beal, fire chief with Augusta Regional Airport Fire Department.
Augusta Regional has its own fire department on site. Even though they don’t see much action, they are always working to be prepared. “We are so efficient at being fire preventive, we don’t have that many fires we respond to. This training gives us that opportunity our apparatus and equipment on any types of fires we would run into on an aircraft,” he said.
The training is intense. Their top priority is the aircraft and the people near it.