Airport welcomes new fire truck

Thermal cameras on the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport’s new $610,000 fire truck will help rescue workers find plane crash victims.

A dozen city of Lewiston firefighters were learning to use the cameras and other features of the truck at a training Tuesday.

The instruction is part of an update at the airport paid for mostly with Federal Aviation Administration money. It involves the truck, basing fire and rescue operations at a new $5 million building on airport grounds starting Monday, and improvements in runway snow removal.

“What we have here is really neat,” said Chris Clemens, interim airport manager. “It’s important to SkyWest, and it’s important to other carriers.”

SkyWest provides the only commercial passenger flights in Lewiston, to and from Salt Lake City. Airport officials are trying to recruit other airlines to the transportation center.

The Oshkosh Global Striker replaces a truck that was 22 years old and will be kept as a backup. That truck was on its third motor and has a turret that leaks into the cab where the driver sits, Lewiston Fire Chief Travis Myklebust said. The fire department couldn’t fix the issue because doing so would require the truck to be kept out of service for long periods of time, which isn’t feasible.

Technological advances over the last two decades were incorporated in equipping the truck in ways that will make rescue efforts faster and more effective.

A veil of water is deployed when crews spray chemical, helping direct the chemical to a fire instead of being blown away by the wind.

Sensors detect if the truck is being driven too fast and automatically slow the speed to help prevent the vehicle from tipping.

And a clear curtain of water will fall on the windshield when the truck is running, keeping the cab cool and providing better visibility than windshield wipers.

The building is making it possible for the airport to have the new truck. It is about 2 feet wider and 8 feet longer than the one it replaces. It couldn’t fit into the city of Lewiston fire station next door to the airport, where the airport fire truck previously was housed.

A firefighter with specialized training will be at the new building at least 15 minutes before and after any departures or arrivals of flights with 30 passengers or more.

The firefighter can reach a crash in the truck within 1 minute and 10 seconds, compared with the present response time of 2 minutes and 36 seconds.

That firefighter’s job will be to keep flames away from an aircraft’s exits so that firefighters can enter and rescue passengers.

The building has other advantages, too, such as being a place to store snow removal equipment. Last year, the airport purchased a $750,000 circular brush that more thoroughly removes snow from runways than plows.

The brush was being kept outside, which is against FAA rules, said Zachary Whitlock, airport maintenance supervisor.

Precipitation is rated on a scale of one to five, with five being wet and one being horrible, he said. The crews could only get runways to a three with plows. The broom can get the main runway to a five, but it can’t be used on the older runway because of worries it would remove markings.

“(The broom) will turn it into a black runway,” Whitlock said.

The building has room for the airport administration offices, too, which are at the terminal. The airport board is choosing not to move the offices for now because of concerns about cost.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.