Santa Barbara Airport obtains new firefighting truck
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Santa Barbara Airport Fire Department obtained a new Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting truck.
The 58,863 pound truck is said to hold up to 1,585 gallons of water and 200 gallons of foam.
The truck came in a couple weeks ago and firefighters with the airport have been training on the new vehicle.
The truck will be replacing an existing old one according to an airport representative.
The airport received a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration and the airport itself was able to match 10 percent of their own funds.
The Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting, or ARFF, truck is specially equipped for the airport environment to support the kinds of fires that might result from aircraft such as aircraft fuel fires or metal fires.
An airport representative says an example of a metal fire is if a plane came in too fast and was braking too hard, an aircraft can get “hot brakes” where the metal ignites a fire. The representative says metal fire is atypical for any other environment, and can not be put out with water.
The ARFF truck is also not for street use due to its bulldozer type tires.
