MIAMI – Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, the crew of Miami Dade Fire's station 12 at MIA is ready to respond within three minutes to any emergency.
The crash this weekend at San Francisco International Airport reaffirms why that type of readiness is critical.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue demonstrated how it plans to handle planes crash landing at Miami International Airport similar to the one at San Francisco International Airport that killed two and injured 182 others Saturday.
"We are highly, highly, highly vulnerable to this type of accident as it happened to San Francisco," said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Arnold Piedrahita.
Local10's Neki Mohan and photographer Bob Palumbo got an exclusive tour of the high security fire station that is located in one of the world's busiest airports.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue station 12 is located in the middle of MIA and has five foam trucks ready to go at all times, carrying 3,000 gallons of water, foam and a fire extinguishing chemical agent. Some trucks have a piercing end, allowing them to inject foam into the body of a plane.
In light of the incident this weekend, they demonstrated how the quickly the foam is dispensed and the special tools they are equipped with. "On the top of one of them is a piercing nozzle that will penetrate the body of the plane and put foam inside of it to extinguish a fire inside," said Lt. Piedrahita.
"It's a vapor suppression, and so, because aircrafts carry a lot of fuel, you'll have lots of fuel on the ground, possibly on fire, and the foam will keep that vapor suppressed and reduce the fire," said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Capt. Patrick Lewis.
The Federal Aviation Administration mandates that foam trucks reach a plane fire in less than three minutes.
Immediately after our demonstration, the crew replenished their trucks with water and foam, ready to go into action if needed
"The objective is always life safety first," added Lewis.