BGFD Conducts Annual Emergency Training

First responders in Bowling Green are always making sure they are prepared for anything. Last night the Bowling Green Fire Department conducted the second day of an annual training exercise at the Bowling Green Warren County Regional Airport.

Every year the Bowling Green Warren County Regional Airport hosts an FAA required training exercise for first responders in the area. This gives firefighters a unique training to experience a fire on an aircraft.

“Rarely and fortunately do we have aviation accidents on the property, but being a certificated airport we are required to make sure all our firefighters that work in the airport fire station have the necessary training to extract the victims, to extinguish the fire, to operate the equipment and that’s aircraft rescue firefighting element of what they do. So it’s a little different than what most fire stations will do in communities.”

 Various first responders from the area come out for the training exercise including the BGFD, EMS, Air EVAC and also airport employees.

Every year the training exercise evolves, and new elements are added to better prepare first responders. This exercise is so important because the airport sits right in the middle of a residential area.

 “We do it in the evenings and the main reason is because the airport looks a little different in the day time than it does at night. At night its mainly a sea of lights so we like to get our folks as well as other responding agencies out to that area in that environment so they are more familiar with it if they ever have a real call to that type of incident.”

The training involves a timely response. Extraction of victims, extinguishing the fire, and navigating air traffic at the airport.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Department and Warren County Emergency Management also assisted with the training exercise.

Tonight will be the last night for the annual training exercise at the airport.