High-speed fire trucks to be deployed to major airports

MANILA, Philippines – In line with efforts to boost safety and emergency response in the country’s major airports,  Philippine aviation officials are set to deploy a fleet of brand new firetrucks to their supervised major airports all over the country.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines received 13 of 41 brand new, fire-fighting vehicles from Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Corporation at the port of Batangas Friday, March 6.

CAAP has 86 aging fire trucks bought sometime in the 1970s and 1980s. The new fire trucks will be deployed to all CAAP-supervised, major airports in Bacolod, Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo, Laoag, and Palawan.

The aging trucks will be deployed to smaller CAAP-run airports.

The fire trucks are equipped with 8 sets of banker suits, forcible tools such as circular saw, ax, cutting tools, 75-kilo vaults generator sets, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and two spare tires that can travel with maximum speed of 113 kilometers per hour.

CAAP placed the tender for the purchase of 41 units of custom-built aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) through a competitive bidding; 4 units of 6×6 trucks with 12,000-liter water capacity; and 37 units of 4×4 with 6,000 liters capacity for P1.3 billion ($29.51 million).

The deployment of the newly-acquired Airport Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) is part of the upgrade of CAAP’s Emergency Services Unit in all major airports in the country, in compliance to the International Civil Authority Organization (ICAO), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and European Union international standards for ARFF requirements.

The delivery of the remaining new fire-fighting vehicles is expected within the year, Philippine Oshkosh Corporation’s representative Edison Deza said. – Rappler.com