Firefighters speak on battling plane fires

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed two deaths after a twin-engine plane crashed in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 near Naples Friday afternoon.

The plane quickly caught on fire after it crashed, sending flames and billows of smoke into the air.

So, what goes into handling these unique and rare dangers like airplane fires? WINK spoke with firefighters who specialize in airplane fires.

• READ MORE: At least 2 dead after twin-engine plane crashes on I-75 in Collier County

They could not speak to the specifics of what happened on Friday, but they did say why airplane fires can be so challenging and require an immediate sense of urgency.

They use an airplane fire simulator. It sits just minutes away from the Punta Gorda airport, and it’s one of only two in the state where fire departments from all over can train for something like this.

“There’s definitely a sense of urgency when it comes to aircraft fires,” said Jennifer Truman, lieutenant, ARFF team, Charlotte County Fire. “You have to be able to make sure these people are able to get off the aircraft safely, evacuate them, and get the fire suppressed.”

Truman is a lieutenant with the ARFF team, which stands for Airplane Rescue and Firefighting.

She can’t speak about what happened here, but she said there are a lot of differences when it comes to fighting airplane fires, as opposed to something like a home or car fire.

“You’re going to have a lot more people that are involved. You go to a house fire, it’s maybe a family. On an aircraft, you have hundreds of people potentially involved, so one of our main concerns when we get to an aircraft fire is protecting means of egress for those members trying to get off of aircrafts while also fighting the suppression suppressing the fire.

This fire simulator gets a lot of use, and that’s because first responders from all across the state want to be ready in case something like this happens.

Truman says in these situations, there’s no time to waste.

“They have jet fuel in them, and most of the time, the jet fuel is carried in the fuel tanks in the wings of the aircraft, so, if there is fuel still onboard the aircrafts, it will continue to burn either until we’re able to get if it’s a leak, shut off the leak, stop the leak or until the fuel burns itself out,” Truman said.

The airplane fire simulator was used by various fire departments three days this week, including on Friday.

WINK spoke with Charlotte County Fire & EMS.

WINK asked if the fire department in Collier County has trained here and was told no; however, the Naples Airport Authority has done training here.