Fire suppression system needed at regional airport
FC, Wynne departments prepared for DRAA emergencies
Members of the Delta Regional Airport Authority, during its recent meeting, discussed the need for a fire suppression system at the airport and the facility’s current situation with selling Jet A fuel.
Board member Kendall Owens asked chairman Shannon Hobbs if the fire departments in the area are capable of handling a fire emergency concerning avgas and jet fuel.
"I know that when you all were talking about avgas in the past, you spoke about the capabilities of the Colt Fire Department in case of an emergency," said Owens. "Are they prepared in case of an emergency once we bring Jet A in here? Are the Wynne and Forrest City fire departments prepared if we do have a situation where they are needed?"
According to Hobbs, the Forrest City and Wynne departments are prepared to handle a fire; however, the Colt fire department would be limited in what it could do.
"I think they are probably about as prepared as the Colt Fire Department can get," said Hobbs. "Forrest City is prepared. I know they are prepared. Wynne is probably prepared. In Colt, we are probably limited. Once we get this operation going, from talking to the Colt Fire Chief, once it is established, they can probably apply for some grant money.
Hobbs continued, “Of course, they really want a truck on site, but that is going to take a lot. They actually had an airport fire truck that they could have gotten for free, but part of the stipulation was that we had to have a building on the property for them to store it in. That was about two or three years ago, and we were doing all that we could, but we couldn't swing it. We told them to stay locked down and when the time comes, we will get with them."
"Are there any Covid construction grants available”” asked Owens.
"I have not seen any, no," said Hobbs. "I still don't fully understand how buying fuel is allowed, but it is. That may be something we can apply for another independent grant for or maybe the fire department can apply for one easier than we can from the fire protection standpoint."
Hobbs said the next big project for the airport is to get the fire suppression system up and running to improve fire prevention at the facility.
"Following our fuel project, our next big project coming up is our fire retardant project," said Hobbs. "We have fire hydrants around the airport; however, none of them are operational. We have a well that is dug and the plumbing between them, but there is no connection between the two. What they have to do is come in and put in a reservoir water tank that will hold the necessary and capable gallons to quickly refill their fire trucks or it will supply the fire hydrants if they need them. That is scheduled for 2022. The estimated project amount is about $1.2 million, which, with other costs on top of that, we are looking at $1.5 million total.”
Hobbs told the board that he had submitted a grant application for $32,000 to purchase fuel for the airport.
"I recently applied for a $32,000 grant for Covid relief money because it says that we can use that money for the purchase of fuel as a part of general maintenance," said Hobbs. "Either way, we are going to have to have fuel. If we can make this work, I am going to try to use that full amount to either top off our avgas tank and get jet A fuel. It will be a grant and we will not have to pay it back. I plan to use that to top off the tanks. I have a lot of paperwork to sign off on for our branding sitting on my desk so that we can get this fuel ordered."