Fire and rescue crew at BIA
Sri Lanka’s international airport at Katunayake has been able to attend to at least seven emergencies in the past two years when two foreign carriers touched down.
There were at least seven situations when there were emergency operations carried out in the past two years for reasons due to medical, refuelling and technical, Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. Head of Fire and Rescue Services Wing Commander A.D.N.R. De Alwis Gunasekera said.
He noted that two years back an A380 had landed at the airport calling for emergency services and last year June another situation developed that called for similar services.
During our visit to the airport, the emergency response teams carried out a drill on reaction test when the siren was rung by pulling out the fire engines and getting into their suits while still in the vehicles that showed the efficiency and readiness of the staff.
A response drill is carried out monthly to ascertain how long it would take to reach the two ends of the runway within two minutes, Wing Commander Gunasekera said adding that they also carry out an equipment drill monthly.
Moreover, they also engage in a mock up exercise to ensure the staff is ready to respond to an actual fire where kerosene and water and dummies inside a mock up plane.
This division is manned by 206 staff over the three airports of BIA, Ratmalana Airport and the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport that operate on a 24-hour shift that is moved into three shifts.
The BIA’s Fire and Rescue division responds to not only emergencies within the airport but also those within a four km radius for the recent fires at the Brandix facility and the Bank of Ceylon.
The division has six fire engine vehicles with a roof monitor capable of discharging water from a distance of 90-95 metres, he said.
Wing Commander Gunasekara also noted that they had bought two brand new vehicles three years back and already have two vehicles that are about 10 years old.
Moreover, the BIA is also equipped with an Emergency Command Post that has been upgraded to standards similar to what is available at the Changi Airport in Singapore, he noted.
Walking inside the post it was interesting to find that it was fully equipped with tables chairs clearly marked for each individual, television sets and maps, and other capabilities that could be used to send out news and receive information from the emergency site. Live coverage could also be provided to this post from the location by positioning a fire engine that would be fixed with a camera atop it to capture all footage of the rescue and operation site, the head of the unit said.