EL TORO : Crash Crews Hold Rescue Training

Crash crews from John Wayne Airport and El Toro Marine Corps Air Station conducted rescue and fire-suppression training Friday that produced intermittent clouds of black smoke visible from much of Orange County.

More than 50 firefighters entered large flaming pits at the El Toro Marine base in simulated rescue operations. The pits were flooded with a combination of gasoline and diesel fuel and set afire. The firefighters are required “to sweep a path” through the flames to rescue those aboard a burning aircraft, said Capt. Dan Young, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Department.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires crash crews at John Wayne, El Toro and other public and military airports to receive the training once a year. But crews at John Wayne Airport, which is operated by the county, receive the training twice a year, Young said.

He said the training would finish today.

During the rescue operations, 100-foot-wide pits are flooded with 350 to 500 gallons of fuel and ignited, Young said. According to Master Sgt. Jake Rodrigues, the giant fuel-soaked pits were lighted every 20 minutes or so between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“Firemen are always surprised by the volume of fire and the tremendous heat that is generated by the large flaming pits,” Young said. “The crews have about 30 to 40 seconds to sweep a path through the fire and get in and make the rescue and get out.”

The 10- to 12-member crews, dressed in protective suits, use water hoses to cut a path through the fire.

“It takes real teamwork,” Rodrigues said. “They have to work together as a team in order to get the job done quickly.”