Posted on 03/13/2006 4:27:22 PM PST by SandRat
SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (Army News Service, March 13, 2006) – Iraqi and U.S. firefighters battled a five-alarm fire at a weapons training facility on the Victory Base Complex March 11, adjacent to Baghdad International Airport.
Iraqi firefighters based at the training site responded to the fire after seeing thick, black smoke billowing into the clear, blue sky. Realizing the fire was too much for their two fire trucks, they called for assistance from American and Iraqi firefighters located throughout the complex.
“The Army (trainers) there said they used fire extinguishers initially, but the fire got too big,” said Mario Jomantoc, a SATCO contractor at the site.
The indoor shooting range was lined with 50-pound rubber blocks, which caused the fire to quickly spread.
“We pushed water with our two trucks and then called for back-up,” said Assad, the site’s Iraqi fire chief. “The fire started suddenly getting big. We knew we couldn’t handle alone with our two trucks.”
Camp Stryker’s fire department called for assistance from firefighters at Sather Air Base, Camp Victory, Camp Liberty and Baghdad International Airport.
The 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Station crews were the first subsequent responders. Because the fire had burned for about 30 minutes, and rubber blocks lined the facility interior, billowing flames and thick, black smoke reached high into the afternoon sky.
“We were worried there might be people in the facility,” said Tech. Sgt. Dennis Schipper, the Sather AB firefighter who took control as the incident commander. “We didn’t (know) if there were occupants inside.”
The Iraqi firefighters aggressively attacked the fire for a few minutes before the Sather team arrived. Sergeant Schipper’s team offensively attacked the fire, spraying about 5,000 gallons of water from their trucks. But with no hydrant systems, they and the other responding firefighters went on the “defensive” to try and save the adjoining dining facility and remaining indoor weapons training range.
“Our goal then was containment,” he said.
They worked in concert with other responding firefighters to set up an “emergency” water tank. The system is a temporary water bladder the Sather AB fire truck sucked from to feed the firefighters’ hoses. This required help from Kellogg, Brown and Root contractors and the 447th ECES Utilities section workers, who dumped water from trucks into the bladder from emergency water sources located throughout VBC.
The fire, which destroyed the east wing of the structure, burned until the early hours of Sunday. But smoke from the smoldering rubber was still seen drifting into the sky two days later.
The Iraqi and American firefighters said the challenges included no hydrants, poor communication and a language barrier. But they both agreed the joint training they perform each week paid huge dividends when they came together to fight the fire, which was the largest most had ever fought. It was also the first real fire for some.
“Our (joint training) is very good,” Assad said. “It makes it easy to work together. We worked like a team.”
Most of the Iraqi firefighters have about three months of training. But Schipper said they performed well under pressure.
“They were very aggressive and wanted to attack the fire from the interior of the structure. Once it was determined that the fire in the east side of the facility was unable to be extinguished, they were eager to assist our efforts protecting the west wing,” Schipper said.
It was the first structural fire for many of the young Sather AB team, too. But all their constant training paid off.
“We knew exactly what to do (because of our training), said Airman 1st Class Jose Flores, 447th ECES firefighter.
Schipper also praised the combined efforts of all the firefighters, utilities Airmen and KBR.
Firefighters were able to save about half of the facility.
“It was a total team effort. Without everyone’s involvement, the structure, along with the adjacent structures, could have been a total loss,” Schipper said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.
(Editor’s note: Information provided by 447th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs at Sather Air Base, Iraq.)
Firefighters from the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department battle a five-alarm blaze at a weapons training facility March 11 at Victory Base Complex, Iraq.
Iraqi and U.S. firefighters battled a five-alarm fire side by side.
Iraqi firefighters based at the training site responded to the fire after seeing thick, black smoke billowing into the clear, blue sky. Realizing the fire was too much for their two fire trucks, they called for assistance from American and Iraqi firefighters located throughout the complex.
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