The Herald, Sharon, PA Published Sunday, July 30, 2000

VIENNA

Hot designs add fire to training

By Michael Roknick
Herald Business Editor

With fire hose in hand, Steve Moldenhaver slowly approaches a jet that’s ablaze at the Youngstown Air Reserve Base.

Although clad in protective aluminum suits, he and two of his fellow civilian firefighters pour with sweat as temperatures easily top 1,000 degrees from the raging inferno. When the men get within 10 yards of the military jet, the 20-foot high flames practically engulf them.

Water spraying from their hose appears to be a pitiful match against this powerful blaze. But as they douse a wing and the fuselage with hundreds of gallons of water, they begin to win the fight. After a minute flames from the incinerating jet begin to subside but still aren’t out.

Standing 175 feet away in an elevated tower overlooking the training grounds, Russell Rowley watches the firefighters meet the drill’s goal.

"This was a simulated fuel spill in the engine that caused an external fire,’’ Rowley said.

As the assistant chief of training for the 910th U.S. Air Reserve at the base, Rowley orders the fire to be snuffed out. An arms length away from Rowley, an operator of the custom-designed fire system immediately turns a knob on his control panel.

Underground pipes shoot liquid propane into burners in the jet which created the blast furnace environment. Like a gas grill, the flame dies withn the knob is turned off.

In an emergency, nitrogen can be injected to close propane valves which will quickly shut off fuel for the fire.

After the drill, members of the fire fighting team yank off their protective hoods and gulp in the comparatively cool air.

"When you come out, you’re exhausted,’’ Muldenhaver said.

That’s just what Rowley likes to hear.

"We try to keep our training like this,’’ Rowley said. "We want to give them as realistic of an operation as we can without making it hazardous.’’

But even the military has its limits. If there was a fire on a real jet, foam would usually be called on to quell the flames. Water is far less costly and is safer for the environment than foam.

Still, creating a safe and reusable fire training operation which produces volcanic heat is no small feat, said Jerry "Tweet’’ Kirila.



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