Greenwood

By William Greenwood This month let’s take a look at auxiliary power unit (APU) fires. The APU itself provides power to start the main engines. Heavy turbine compressors must be turned to a significant speed to start the engine. Before these engines are to be turned though, the APU must be started, generally done by a battery or hydraulic accumulator. ...

By William Greenwood Has your ARFF Department readied personnel for the possibility of a cargo hold fire? Everyday when I come to work, I want my personnel to be operationally ready to respond. With the constant demand to meet minimum training requirements, the rapid advancements of technology can outrun the current training curriculums as set forth by some local jurisdictions. ...

By William Greenwood On the cover, the situation seems pretty-straightforward, right? Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighters (ARFF) respond to the scene and witness smoke or fire coming from the main landing gear. But, understanding why these types of incidents occur is critically important to have well-educated and seasoned firefighters operating on multimillion dollar aircraft. Understanding the Why In the same way ...

 By William Greenwood  One of the biggest challenges for the professional educator is how to stay up to date on the latest ways to engage students for a positive behavioral modification experience. Most of us understand that one-size-fits-all training in the fire service doesn’t engage everybody. But, is it bigger than that? Depending on your student’s intelligence map (which is ...

 By William Greenwood The 2016 US DOT (Emergency Response Guide) ERG is a guidebook that is required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for all first responders. The commonly found orange paperback book is designed to be used during the initial phase (first 30 minutes) of a dangerous goods or hazardous materials incident. It is produced by the United States ...

By William Greenwood To better suppress an aircraft engine fire, the aircraft rescue firefighter must have a thorough understanding of the anatomy of an engine. The reason for this need is because with the limited amount of extinguishing agent carried on ARFF vehicles, it is imperative that when we commit to an incident that our agent of choice be the ...

By William Greenwood When you start to consider purchasing a new aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicle, what should you consider when writing a vehicle specification? If you are looking at purchasing a new vehicle, you should have a good understanding of apparatus design, manufacturing, and fireground operations. To make this process easier, I want to provide the top 5 ...

By William Greenwood This month I wanted to review some basic ARFF tactics regarding combating small hidden compartmentalized fires. Compartmentalized fires in the ARFF industry can range from fires involving larger cargo holds and cargo shipping containers to the smaller and limited access areas of the interior lavatory, cabinets, food service galley, and many other hidden void spaces within the ...

By William Greenwood Airline passengers know the benefits of the over-the-wing exit each time they board to fly. The flight attendants do an exceptional job during the preflight safety briefing to explain the location and operation of the aircraft exits. Aircraft rescue firefighters often have been educated on the same things, except our focus is primarily based from looking at ...

By William Greenwood With the advent of the thermal imaging camera (TIC), technology has given us the ability to see again. That alone is an amazing feat and provides an increased level of safety. But as with any technology, it also comes with challenges that some operators might not know about. We all know and understand how important a TIC ...