Airport firefighters from around the world will now be coming to Northeast Wisconsin for training. The ATW Airport Rescue Fire Fighting Training Center, or ARFF, opened about a year ago. It’s a partnership between Appleton International Airport and Fox Valley Tech, but access to the facility has been limited due to the pandemic.
Firefighter rescue crews from Lacrosse Regional Airport are working on putting out an engine fire on a Boeing 777. It’s all part of the training they’re completing at the ATW ARFF.
“Employing the apparatus and putting the fires out, it’s about as real as you can get, so to simulate as real as possible it’s amazing,” says trainee, Beau Tibbitts from Lacrosse Regional Airport.
And that’s exactly the purpose of the facility, to give hands-on experience to rescue crews working at airports not only across the country, but also around the world.