Airport Fire Officers Association Conference Recap

By: Ted Costa

In January, Simon Petts, Chairman of the Airport Fire Officers Association (AFOA), and John Purdy, incoming AFOA Chairman. invited Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Working Group (ARFFWG) Chairwoman Beth Hendel, ARFFWG Legend Barbra Haas, and 1st Vice Chairman Ted Costa to attend the 2019 AFOA Annual Conference, which was held at the Hilton – Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom.  AFOA is a technical body, dedicated to promoting and maintaining the professional image and status of the Airport Fire Service within the United Kingdom and Ireland, ensuring continued communications amongst them, through an ongoing dialogue of information and knowledge on relevant technical and operational ARFF matters.  The ARFFWG and AFOA share the same values and beliefs: namely that the sharing of ARFF and aviation information is vital to the safety of our firefighters, the traveling public and the airport communities that we are charged to protect.

Incidents and accidents that relate to modes of transportation, namely aviation, strike a chord when they occur.  We are fortunate that they do not occur with great frequency.  This fact makes it ever so important that we share information within our organizations when these events take place.  The fact that we can share lessons learned with our brothers and sisters from “across the pond” and build partnerships and friendships that open lines of communication is remarkable.

The ARFFWG has partnerships with several organizations just like ours.  These partnerships are what make us a deeper and richer organization with regards to information distribution and networking, not only domestically but internationally as well.

The 2019 AFOA Annual Conference was structured and delivered in a manner very similar to that of an ARFFWG Annual Conference.  AFOA, like the ARFFWG, has seen the number of attendees grow over the years which is a reflection of the leadership of these organizations.  AFOA however does something different than the ARFFWG by way of offering workshops on the day prior to the start of the conference.  AFOA members were offered two separate workshops: Incident Command, which was presented by John Lord, and National Fire Chiefs Council Aviation Working Group presented by CFO Gavin Watts of West Sussex Fire and Rescue.

All in all, our conferences mirror one another.  Days were structured so that attendees had breaks to exchange business cards and handshakes, and there was significant time allowed to visit with the vendors and sponsors.  A couple of observations to consider allowing the ARFFWG to be in sync with AFOA would be a bit later morning starting time, and a break in the afternoon for traditional tea and biscuits.

After the formal opening ceremonies, introductions and remarks were held and followed by the keynote speaker.  Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, was this year’s keynote speaker.  Commissioner Cotton gave a dynamic, eye opening address from the heart and without use of any prepared notes.  Commissioner Cotton spoke of her rise through the ranks of the London Fire Brigade and how much the Brigade has evolved since her first day as a new firefighter during a period when there were few female firefighters.  Commissioner Cotton’s depiction was quite jaw dropping.  She spoke with pride regarding her perseverance and where the London Fire Brigade is today with over 400 female firefighters in its rank and file.  Commissioner Cotton shared with the attendees her experiences most recently of the Grenfell Tower fire.  Grenfell Tower was a 24 story apartment block in North Kensington, West London in which 72 people died and some 223 were rescued or escaped the fire.  The story the commissioner tells conveys the fact that she is a “firefighters” chief. The compassion she describes having for the members of her department both during the incident and after the incident coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) depicted a strong leader.  This first day of speakers included an update presentation about trends in the aviation industry from members of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is analogous to the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States.

There was also a detailed presentation of the Manchester Arena attack.  This incident proved to be a reminder of the violent and deadly acts of terrorism that concern all first responders around the world.  The Manchester Arena bombing was a suicide bombing attack in Manchester, United Kingdom on May 22, 2017. It was reported that a radical Islamist detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by singer Ariana Grande. The incident was treated as an act of terrorism. Twenty-three people died, including the attacker, and 139 were wounded, more than half of them children. Several hundred more suffered psychological trauma.  This graphic explanation about this event and the response raised several questions and concerns about the demands that are put on responders and response systems.  These are the same response systems that are built into emergency plans of airports across the world which begs to the question “What happens if there is an incident at our airport during a terrorism event?”  “Where will the responders come from?”

A presentation about aircraft recovery that included real case studies from actual incidents followed and engaged the attendees in the recovery phase of an aircraft accident.  This presentation was followed on by Mr. Frankie Shaw from the Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB), who discussed updates from the AAIB as well as recent accidents that the AAIB responded to.  The AAIB is the equivalent to the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States.

At the conclusion of the first day’s speaking sessions the presenters were brought back out for a period of questions that are generated during the day from attendees submitting them to an audience participation application called Slido. The opening day concluded with a formal dinner reception that included awards and entertainment provided by former rugby union player Andy Powell.

The final day of this two-day conference included presentations on support for responders and a program for caring for rescuers, risks associated with airport buildings and structures, the response to a car park (or as we call them in the States “parking garage”) fire in Liverpool.  Of particular interest in the last presentation was the increase in fire volume which was attributed to the failure of plastic or composite fuel tanks in vehicles parked in the facility.

Chairwoman Beth Hendel and 1st Vice Chairman Ted Costa were called to the podium to join AFOA Chairman Simon Petts and explain the joint partnership and recently signed memorandum of understanding that has been drafted by AFOA and the ARFFWG.  The attendees were also informed of and urged to attend the first ever AFOA and ARFFWG joint conference which will be held in Linz, Austria May 6-8, 2019.

The day concluded with a presentation on recent threats of terrorism and the impacts of such threats on transportation hubs. Chairman Petts closed the conference with a summary of the past years events and what is to come in 2019 and beyond. 

This was a very successful conference for both the AFOA and the ARFFWG.  The relationships that were made with AFOA will add to our information sharing network.  In a reciprocal gesture, Simon Petts and John Purdy attended the ARFFWG and AAAE Chiefs and Leadership Conference in Jacksonville, Florida.  I would urge the members of the ARFFWG to participate in future conferences and partnership that arise with AFOA and follow their website at AFOA.org.uk.

About the Author:  Ted Costa is the 1st Vice Chair of the ARFFWG and retired as Deputy Chief with Massachusetts Port Authority Fire Department at Boston Logan International Airport, where he served since 1990.  He is certified as a Hazardous Materials Technician, Incident Safety Officer, a credentialed Fire Prevention Officer, and holds numerous NIMS and ICS certifications.  Ted is a member of the National Fire Protection Association ARFF Technical Committee, former chairman of the Massachusetts Bay Marine Incident Response and Training (MIRT) Group, and holds a USCG Captains License.