5 Days of Training to Fight Airplane Fires
Firefighters, aviation professionals, students sharpen skills at PIT
By Gina Mastrangelo & Julie Bercik
Published October 23, 2023
Read Time: 3 mins
On a recent Monday, Sophie Burke started a new job at the Erie International Airport. By that Thursday, she was entering a burning mock airplane, ready to put out a fire.
ERI is Burke’s first job after graduating in August with a bachelor’s degree in airport management and operations from Purdue University.
As an operations and facility specialist, she needs to know how to fight fires, which is what brought her to a five-day airport firefighter training course at Pittsburgh International Airport.
PIT’s Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) training program is designed to provide high-quality training to emergency responders. Each year, training is held at PIT’s ARFF facility, which attracts fire departments and groups from across the world.
This year, aviation students from the Community College of Allegheny County had a front row seat to the training. They watched from every angle as trainees raced toward a burning mock plane and practiced putting out a fire with water.
After two years in the program, the CCAC students have learned a lot about aviation-related incidents, but seeing one is a different experience.
“It’s one thing to read a book,” said Marty Meinert, one of