There are six people trapped inside a burning airplane. You and your partner have 10 minutes to rescue them.
And you have to do it blind, groping and crawling in total darkness, burdened down with fire gear and an oxygen tank.
Sound impossible? John Ireland, chief of the fire department at Grissom Air Reserve Base, said it’s not impossible, but it sure is hard.
Ireland would know. He’s done it.
“In 10 minutes, I went through a whole tank of oxygen because I was breathing so heavy,” he said. “It’s tough.”
Thankfully, Ireland said, he’s never had to make that kind of rescue in real life, but it was a scenario he had to go through during training to become a certified aircraft-rescue firefighter.
It’s a brutal, rigorous course, Irish said, and it’s one all 50 firefighters serving in the Grissom fire department have gone through.
“It’s really intense training, but it’s good training,” he said. “Our guys know how to function in the worst-case scenarios because of it.”
And knowing how to deal with the nastiest situations a plane crash can throw at you is a skill not too many firefighters have in Indiana.
Ireland said Grissom Air Reserve Base is the only airport north of Indianapolis with firefighters certified for aircraft rescue.
As a fire department working on an Air Force base, that’s an essential skill, and it’s one that benefits not just the base.
It’s important for the surrounding area and the entire state, said Tech. Sgt. Mark Orders-Woempner with Grissom’s public affairs office.
Although the primary goal of the fire department is to protect the military missions at the base, he said Grissom is the go-to airport for both civilian and military planes experiencing any kind of emergency north of Indianapolis.
That includes problems ranging from smoke in the cockpit, failing engines or slamming into a flock of birds, Orders-Woempner said.
“Not only do they have to be prepared for our aircrafts,” he said. “They have to be prepared for the entire Air Force fleet, planes from the Department of Defense and civilian planes. This is a busy airspace.”
And it’s gotten busier in the last year.
Air traffic has ticked up as more civilian planes are using the base’s more than 2-mile runway to land and get taxied to Dean Baldwin Painting, which opened last year inside a renovated airplane hangar near the base painting and servicing planes.
That’s on top of military aircraft from all over the country using the air space around Grissom, which is designated a military operating zone, to practice sometimes dangerous aerial maneuvers.
Fire Chief Ireland said with so much air traffic on and around the base, Grissom’s firefighters — who are civilian employees working for the Department of Defense — have to be ready for the worst, and it’s why the department is one of the best equipped in the state.
Out of its 14 fire engines and emergency response units, half are solely dedicated to aircraft emergencies. That’s way more than any other airport in the state, including the Indianapolis International Airport, Irish said.
Within four minutes of a pilot radioing in an in-flight emergency, he said more than 15 firefighters are out on the runway, ready for action. He said the Indy airport might have half that manpower on-scene during an incident.
“We have a long runway, but we’re usually down at the end of it within minutes,” Irish said. “It’s pretty impressive to see.”
The department’s consistently stellar performance hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2007, the fire department was named the best in the Air Force Reserve Command for having the highest degree of excellence in base-mission support and fire-protection management.
Besides the Grissom fire department providing the best response to aircraft emergencies in the state, firefighters also head outside the base for car accidents, house fires and other emergencies.
Irish said the department has mutual-aid agreements with Peru, Kokomo, Walton and most of the volunteer departments around the base.
With specialized training in confined-space rescue and the only fire department certified to respond to hazardous-material incidents in Miami County, Grissom firefighters significantly bolster fire protection in the area, he said.
The department also offers aircraft-rescue training to firefighters at airports like the ones in Columbus and Purdue University, as well and other kinds of specialized instruction to area firefighters.
“We’re definitely an asset to the community,” Ireland said.
When it comes down to it, though, Grissom firefighters haven’t had to use their advanced, specialized training too often, said Orders-Woempner, and that’s a good thing.
But when those worst-case scenarios strike, he said there’s no one better to jump into action than the Grissom fire department.
“Thank goodness they don’t have to use their training often, but it’s absolutely necessary that they maintain their proficiency. And they do,” he said. “Personally, there’s no other fire department I would want rescuing me from a crash than the ones here at Grissom.”