Tulsa International Airport Fire Department Excels In FAA Inspection

The Fire Department at Tulsa International Airport was part of a recent FAA inspection that found no deficiencies at the airfield, which included a timed test of the fire response time.

Fire Chief Mark Stuckey said his department beat the required three-minute response to midfield with a time of 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

They did it with one truck. The Chief says it is state of the art - a four-wheel drive truck with two joystick-controlled nozzles that can hit 80 miles an hour.

The Fire Department at Tulsa International Airport just passed a federal inspection and beat the required 3-minute response time by 45 seconds. The lime yellow truck has an infrared camera to see in the dark and can empty its 1,600-gallon water tank in less than three minutes. And according to Firefighter Dejuan Collins, “It drives pretty smooth, a lot smoother than our older trucks."

"We have two primary response vehicles, so on any type of aircraft incident we respond out two firefighting trucks, and the other is a reserve,” Chief Stuckey said.

The oldest truck is due for replacement near the end of a 15-year service life. The replacement is expected to cost around $750,000.

"These trucks are designed to respond, respond fast and efficiently. That way, they can assure they can extinguish a fire within seconds,” said Stuckey.

The trucks are airport property with the cost split between the federal government and airline passengers through ticket fees.