>What is the crash response to the airport? Do any of the local public safety agencies respond? Or is it just Denver FD and Denver EMS units that respond? Under what conditions do the med helos respond? Peter Sz<
Hi Peter, how's things in my home state?
The answer is complex. We have 4 ARFF stations at DIA, with 8 or 9 large ARFF rigs. We also have a regular structural pumper rig, tower rig, and 3 mini-pumpers on Hummer chassis. 4(?) of the ARFFs are new Oshkosh 4500 gal. Strykers. To make a long story short: we have a lot of equipment right here.
There are 3 city fire stations within a short distance (2, 27, & 29), and all may respond to major incidents to fill in for DIA rigs as needed. Usually, they're staged either right outside or right inside the fence, but even when that 737 went down on the property in December 2008, none went further than staging. We have a HazMat rig also (marked "Dangerous Goods Response" in keeping with FAA terminology) but the downtown-Denver-based hazmat rig ("HAMER-1") comes out anyway (about 30 miles), especially when the truck company is otherwise occupied.
We've done several exercises at DIA involving other local fire departments, such as Aurora, the Adams County fire districts, and the Sable-Altura district. However, none were called for the '08 crash.
EMS is a little more complicated. Denver has a very well-developed paramedic ambulance system. We typically have 3 or 4 paramedics at the airport, and an ambulance is posted most of the day, giving them a very short (1-3 minute) response time. Additional ambulances would come from our city units initially (I don't remember how many we usually have on the street at any given time - anybody know? I'm guessing 10 or thereabouts) with Rural Metro (the Aurora ambulances) the primary backup out here for a major situation.
Finally: air ambulances are requested by the paramedic in charge and then coordinated thru airport ops and (on the property) the FAA tower, so response is no different than any other place... if we need it and they're available, the tower will clear the airspace and we'll get air support.
So that's about it. I'm not with DFD, but I've participated in planning and exercise development for a number of years out here, and thus have had the privilege of working with DFD for drills, etc. Great bunch of real pros.