St Mary's Airport RFFS is provided to CAA CAP 168 Category 3 Airport standards.
Like many other airport fire crews the RFFS at St. Mary's are required to perform a variety of tasks as part of our daily routine. These include baggage handling, terminal maintenance, grass management, wildlife control, runway inspections, and handling of freight and mail as well as assisting NHS patient transfers including urgent medical evacuations.
As well as providing fire cover for the airport, our RFFS also provide the technical support to the retained local authority fire service and carry out servicing and repair to breathing apparatus, fire extinguishers, hoses, ladders, and rope rescue gear including residential home fire safety visits. We also provide fire extinguisher training to local businesses and other agencies.
All airports in the United Kingdom are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority, who set out the levels of fire cover that are required. On St Mary's the manning level is a minimum of 4 certificated firefighters to be on duty at any time. To supply the media required for fire-fighting and to ensure business continuity. We have 2 foam tenders, both of which exceed the Category 3 requirements. Fire 1 was purpose built in 2019 by UK company Angloco and is based on the MAN chassis. Fire 2 was purpose built by Carmichael based on the Mercedes 1124 chassis.
Initially all our fire crew are sent to The International Fire Training School at Teeside for qualification. This gives them a certificate which is valid for four years, after which they have to return to the school for a revalidation course. All our fire fighters participate in the annual training programme at the airport to maintain competency by regular monitored training. The records of this training are made available for inspection during the annual CAA oversight audit visit.