The Fire Service at Wallblake has a higher response capacity than what is required for a category five airport. So says Chief Fire Officer, Horace Archie, when asked this week about its state of readiness and in response to questions about rescue and firefighting services.

“Wallblake Airport is a category five airport, the reason being that the longest aircraft using the airport is the ATR72 which is 27.17 meters long,” he said. The Chief Fire Officer explained that the categorisation of airports is done in accordance with requirements set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. These requirements specify the minimum available number of vehicles and the amount of water on wheels, foam concentrate and complementary agents at an airport.

Airport Fire Tenders on demonstration

The Chief Fire Officer stated that a category five airport requires two vehicles, water availability of 5,400 litres and foam availability of 324 litres. “We have two major foam tenders - a Waltek Crash Truck, which has a water capacity of 5,500 litres and an Angloco Crash Truck, which has a capacity of 6,080 litres of water,” he said.

Mr. Horace Archie

Mr. Archie went on: “Altogether we have a total capacity of 11,580 litres of water on wheels but, as I said, the requirement of a category five airport is 5,400 litres of water and in each of our vehicles we have more than that. In terms of foam concentrate, the Waltek carries 660 litres and the Angloco 570 litres. The total foam requirement for a category five airport is 324 litres so in each of our vehicles we have above the minimum requirement for the category of the airport. Therefore each of our two vehicles meets the extinguishing requirement for our category five airport. So if for some reason we have to take a vehicle out of service we would still have more than the minimum requirement in terms of extinguishing media.

“One of our major foam tenders has just been refurbished. This work was mainly done by the personnel of the Fire Service. It is in good working order and it is safe for any airline operator to use Wallblake Airport. I think we compare favourably with other Caribbean islands which have more traffic and larger aircraft. This is in terms of the training for our firemen and the efficiency of our vehicles.”

Mr. Archie continued: “It is required that a reserved supply of firefighting media must be kept at the station. We have here a reserved supply of 11,400 litres of water and a reserve foam concentrate supply of 2,770 litres. That is as far as our response requirement is concerned.

A busy day at Wallblake

“In terms of manpower training, more than 50 percent of the personnel have been either trained or exposed to up to date training material from the International Fire Training Centre in the United Kingdom. As part of our training programme for this year we plan to send some of the fire fighters on initial and revalidation courses.”

Mr. Archie is a highly-trained and experienced Divisional Fire Officer from the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service. He is on loan to Anguilla Government to establish a national fire and rescue service here. He said that the first draft for an Anguilla Fire and Rescue Service Act had just been completed and noted that in some Caribbean islands the rescue component is not contained in the legislation hence limitation of their responsibilities. Steps have been taken to correct this in the Act.

Apart from basic training, he has undergone managerial training at the University of the West Indies (holding a certificate in Public Administration) and at the Fire Service College in Gloucestershire, England, where he successfully completed the highly-rated Divisional Command Course and attended the International Fire Training Centre also successfully completing the Overseas Operational Command Course. In addition, Mr. Archie underwent attachments with the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Devon Fire Service.

The largest jet to fly to Anguilla so far ... Global Express

Mr. Archie actively participated in the formation of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Service and did some initial work and training of firefighters at Point Salines Airport in Grenada before coming to Anguilla.

Airport Manager, Remington Lake, expressed tremendous satisfaction with the fire services at Wallblake Airport and the work being done by Mr. Archie.

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