Managing Aerial Firefighting Activities on Airports (2012)

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3 The ProjecT Reflecting the direction of the topic panel, the primary focus of this study is to provide a usable guide and reference source that airport operators can turn to when confronted with pro- viding support for aerial firefighting operations. Second, the study provides information on existing practices in play at air- ports today. Finally, the study identifies information sources for airport operators on methods of managing firefighting activities at airports. This synthesis project identified an issue that affects a significant number of airport operators across the United States, primarily in the western half of the country. Simply stated, the synthesis was developed to identify how airports manage operations when their facilities are used to support aerial wildland firefighting operations. The report shows that there are a variety of demands on airports operators when they support aerial firefighting operations; those demands are reviewed in this report. The synthesis also found that air- port operators are eager to assist with these operations; and, as would be expected, each airport deals with the issues in truly “local” fashion. Some common themes were identified, but few trends were discovered in the ways that airports deal with the various, federal, state, and local agencies. The review identified an increase in the wildland/urban interface zone where people live and are increasingly exposed to wildland fires (see Figure 1). Housing and other assets in the interface zone are increasing at a time when firefight- ing assets in the form of large aerial tanker availability is decreasing. Although no one fire attack method is more valu- able than another, the ability to attack a fire from the air with large quantities of retardant or water is an important tool in this battle, a battle where airports pay an important role. SynTheSiS MeThodology literature review During the topic development process, topic panel members and ACRP staff identified possible sources of information related to this project. The following documents were sug- gested by topic panel members for review: • U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Fire and Aviation Manage- ment manuals, guides, and handbooks, http://www.fs.fed. us/fire/aviation/av_library/index.html#d, including the Interagency Air Tanker Base Operations Guide (USFS), Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide (USFS), and airfield directories. • 2002 Blue Ribbon Panel on Aerial Wildland Firefight- ing, http://www.nifc.gov/aviation/av_blribbon.html. • Federal Aerial Firefighting: Assessing Safety and Effec- tiveness, http://www.wildlandfire.com/docs/2003_n_ before/BRP_Final12052002-1.pdf. • U.S. Forest Service, Malheur National Forest, Oregon, http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/malheur/fire/rappelling-index. shtml. • U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Manage- ment (BLM), http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/fire/ aviation.html. • National Interagency Fire Center at Gowen Air National Guard Base, Idaho, http://www.globalsecurity.org/ military/facility/gowen.htm. • Ryan Air Attack/Helitack Base, Riverside CA http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemet-Ryan_Airport. An initial review and search during the proposal phase indicated that a good deal of information about aircraft and internal firefighting procedures and practices is available, but there is little information directly related to the project topic. Much of the information pertinent to the airport operator’s responsibilities is contained in the FAA’s Advisory Circulars that airport operators use to guide the development and opera- tion of their airports. The FAA has developed a large library of information on subjects where it has some form of regulatory responsibility. To organize this information, the FAA divides the library into various “series” of information, including Advi- sory Circulars. FAA Advisory Circulars that provide guidance on airport issues begin with the number “150”; for example, Advisory Circular 150/5300-13, Airport Design, provides FAA standards and recommendations for airport design. The majority of, but not all, guidance documents related to airport issues are contained in the “150 series” available from the FAA at http://www.faa.gov/airports/resources/advisory_circulars/ [accessed August 2011]. interviews Given the virtual absence of written material on this particu- lar subject, the topic panel agreed that the most successful method for discovering current practices would be to interview chapter one inTroducTion

4 members of the industry; that is, airport managers, aircraft operators, and base operators. A series of questions designed to guide the discussion was developed and tested on the three airport operator members of the topic panel; the test interviews allowed the principal investigator to sharpen the focus of the questions. Additionally, two helicopter operators (one Type I and one Type II) were interviewed to gain user perspectives. One USFS base operator was interviewed, whereas several declined to be interviewed, citing USFS policy on outside interviews. A copy of the interview guides are in Appendix A. A list of interview candidates was compiled in consulta- tion with the topic panel members; the final list of interview- ees with contact information is in Appendix B. The Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) in Abilene, Texas, was added to the interviewee list because during the months of July and August 2011, the airport hosted a significant aerial suppres- sion force fighting the wildland fires in the region. While Abilene Regional had hosted aerial firefighting operations in the past, the level of the 2011 effort was historic. Given the circumstances, ABI appeared likely to provide valuable information for this study, which indeed was true. rePorT conTenT The report includes information that is immediately useful to airport operators in their day-to-day operations, while providing information that explains, from a historical per- spective, the development of certain policies, practices, and procedures. Since most of the information that is of poten- tial use to airport operators is web-based, links to the web- sites are provided. Some of the useful information to airport operators is information that changes with each fire scenario or condition, so the links provide real-time data on local fire issues from which operators can estimate future impacts on their operations. Additionally, the report provides source ref- erences for those readers interested in more detail on certain subject areas. The table of contents provides a detailed outline of the report’s topics that generally fall into one of several major subject topics: • Airport and operator roles • Fire management in general • Money and contractual matters for airport operators • Safety and operational matters • Lessons learned • Conclusions • Appendices containing references and contact informa- tion resources. The study report presents information focused on issues related to airport operators, but will also be helpful to users of airport services such as aircraft operators (fixed and rotary wing) and fire management agencies, both federal and state. Other readers include members of local government respon- sible for airport management oversight, such as airport author- ities, cities, and multi-jurisdictional agencies. FIGURE 1 Cabin and ground fire (National Park Service Photo Gallery).