"McCarran Airport gets a 'triple threat'"

Friday, February 7, 2003

Airport gets a 'triple threat'
By Mary Manning
The Las Vegas (NV) Sun


The newest weapon in the McCarran International Airport firefighting arsenal
demonstrated its ability to save passengers' lives in less than 90 seconds
by pumping water on a flaming jet.

Airport officials on Thursday rolled out Red Dog 43, a $475,000
self-contained flame fighting machine known as the "Striker." Airport
revenues, not local taxpayers, footed the bill for the new vehicle.

Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker said the 55-ton computerized
truck that operates with a two-person crew brings McCarran into the 21st
century.

"They've named it the triple threat," he said.

In addition to carrying 4,500 gallons of water, the truck can deliver 630
gallons of foam or 450 pounds of a dry chemical firefighting agent, so it
offers three ways to fight a single blaze or several fires, Deputy Fire
Chief Bill Kourim said.

The Striker also stores 460 pounds of a clean, nontoxic firefighting agent,
Halotron, Kourim said.

The airport has a total of six firefighting vehicles, with the Striker
replacing one of the older tankers. Two or three firefighters can ride each
truck.

Federal regulations require that an airport fire crew douse flames generated
by a fiery plane crash within 90 seconds to provide a safe pathway for
passengers to escape, Kourim said. Every drill at McCarran has successfully
been completed in less than 90 seconds, he said.

With infrared sensors on the roof of the cab, the truck and its crew have
the equivalent of night goggles for responding to an emergency in the dark.

"We are going to create a safe avenue for the passengers," airport training
officer Bill Hutfilz said. "It's the latest and greatest of the next
generation of fire trucks."

There are 60 Strikers built and ready to respond to airline fires around the
world, said Michael Crowe, vice president of sales and marketing for Oshkosh
Truck Corp. of Wisconsin, the company behind the vehicle.

The fire truck has the same acceleration and braking systems as new military
vehicles used by the Marines, Crowe said.

"The truck evolved from sketches on paper to the truck you see today," Crowe
said.

Kuwait is scheduled to receive two of the Strikers next week. They leave
from Oshkosh, Wis., on Monday, Crowe said.

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