ASHEBORO, NC—Six or seven weeks ago, a military aircraft was over Asheboro when problems arose in flight.
With the plane in distress, the pilot called mayday.
"It was going to have to land in Asheboro," said Lt. Jason Joines with the Asheboro Fire Department.
The fire department was preparing for emergency -- an emergency they'd not dealt with before, despite the Asheboro Regional Airport being in their jurisdiction.
Luckily, the issue was resolved in flight and the aircraft never touched down in Asheboro.
But, according to Capt. Frankie Kelly, "That solidified everything. It's up to us to meet the needs of our city, and we service that airport."
Members of the Asheboro Fire Department, along with firefighters from Ulah and Westside Fire, spent the last week participating in an aircraft rescue firefighting course offered through Randolph Community College.
The 50-hour specialty course is composed of two days of in-class learning and two days of hands-on training. On the final day, participants take a written test.
RCC partnered with Cleveland Community College in order to secure an aircraft and two instructors for the class.
Instructor Rusty Starnes explained what goes on inside the classroom.
Twelve chapters worth of information is covered in 900 PowerPoint slides presented to the class. Everything from initial response to the scene, the rescue procedures and emergency plans with the airport are detailed in the instruction.
According to Joines and Kelly, the fire department recently met with the airport administration to discuss emergency action plans.
On Wednesday, class participants practiced rescuing dummies from the Cleveland Community College aircraft. A smoke machine simulated conditions the firefighters would encounter in an actual aircraft emergency.
Groups of three to four went through the process of rescuing the dummies until all 38 students had completed the training.
A second day of hands-on training took place Thursday.
This time, fire was added to the mix. A series of metal grids beside the aircraft were fueled by propane gas, supplied by Euliss Propane.
Firefighters worked together to extinguish the flames, rush into the smoke-filled aircraft and retrieve the dummies.
Regina Brewer, RCC's Director of Public Safety Programs, explained that the college has classes for the fire department all the time, whether it be regular training or specialty.
The aircraft rescue class was only taught once before at RCC, in the spring of 2018. Another session is already scheduled to begin Aug. 19.
"Chief Summers is really big on training," Brewer added. "In the end, it's for their safety and those being rescued."
Chief Willie Summers, who joined the Asheboro Fire Department near the end of 2018, was on the scene of the live fire training Thursday morning at RCC's campus. He's adamant that the firefighters receive as many additional certifications through training as they can.
"Training is the equalizer," Summers said. "Any fire or emergency scene is dynamic. You cannot script a fire."
The primary goal of the fire department, according to Summers, is to serve the city of Asheboro to the best of its ability. Being trained in aircraft rescue was a necessary step to help the department better serve.
In the future, the chief would like to see members of the fire department go through additional specialty training, such as trench rescue and confined rescue.
"Collaboration between us and RCC has been tremendous," Summers said. "It's been a godsend."
"We want to preach collaboration with not only RCC, but with other fire departments."
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