Volunteer and career firefighters from Mildura Fire Brigade, supported by members from Irymple, Red Cliffs and Merbein brigades participated in the biannual full field exercise conducted by and held at Mildura Airport.
Approximately 35 CFA personnel attended the exercise including Operations Manager John Breaks.
This year’s exercise focused on a mock aircraft accident that came to grief on one of the two runways at Mildura Airport. The aircraft, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, which is capable of carrying 74 passengers and five crew, was substituted by a bus from the local depot. The Dash 8 Q400 flies in and out of Mildura several times a day, along with other passenger aircraft.
The aircraft was carrying 57 passengers and five crew, all of whom were live patients played by volunteers from local drama schools, St John Ambulance and Red Cross volunteers, and family and friends of participating personnel. Most of the patients attended the airport hours before the exercise to have realistic moulage injuries applied by St John volunteers.
At 18.30, CFA along with SES, Ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police were notified and responded to reports of an aircraft accident at the airport. The first CFA vehicle on scene was Mildura aerial pumper led by SSO Leigh Allan. On arrival, SSO Allan confirmed the aircraft was down and was on fire and then assumed the role of Incident Controller and CFA Commander.
CFA crews entered the active airport, suppressed the fire to allow for rescue, conducted the rescue and assisted with patient handling and triage while ensuring the scene was safe from fire and hazmat for all other emergency services.
While the ground crews conducted their operation, an Emergency Management Team consisting of Commanders from each agency was initially established at the airport’s designated Forward Command Post (FCP) where the services conducted a transfer of control. Shortly afterwards the EMT left the FCP and set up an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in the airport's administration office.
The exercise concluded at approximately 21.00 and all crews and participants were treated to a light barbecue dinner while a hot debrief was undertaken by the airport's Exercise Controller.
This year’s exercise was particularly complex for a number of reasons. While the exercise was in progress, the airport and all facilities were completely open. This included working alongside the runway in the crash zone while a number of passenger and commercial aircraft arrived. It was also the first time the EOC was operated and children were included in the live patient mix.
CFA’s representative, Acting Mildura OIC OO Adam Young, was impressed by the exercise and CFA’s contribution.
“Mildura Airport presents a specific risk to Mildura and local brigades in the Sunraysia Group. It was great to see such a large amount of support from volunteer and career firefighters to ensure CFA was well represented at the exercise and they all projected a positive image of CFA to the public, participants and other Emergency Services,” Adam said.
The training used the Mildura aerial pumper, Mildura tanker, Irymple tanker, Irymple field command vehicle (FCV), Red Cliffs tanker, Merbein tanker, Merbein FCV and D18 Ops. To maintain effective fire protection for Mildura, the Mildura pumper remained in the area and Irymple pumper stepped up to Mildura for the evening.
OO Young also acknowledged and thanked the other emergency services for their cooperation and efforts and Mildura Airport for the work and dedication to conducting the operation and allowing CFA to participate. It truly was a fantastic night for all participants.
Photos: Larry Cowley - Pearson Aviation Mildura