GREAT FALLS — On a training pad at the Great Falls airport, crews climbed into firefighting trucks, moved around a helicopter fire trainer and practiced putting out flames again and again.
The training was part of an effort to bring together Army and Air National Guard firefighters at the Great Falls Airport Fire Department for aircraft rescue firefighting training.
Aircraft rescue firefighting, often called ARFF, focuses on how crews respond around aircraft, including how to position vehicles, communicate on an airfield and safely approach a fire involving an aircraft.
Army firefighters traveled from Helena for the training, using the airport’s helicopter fire trainer and training pad to practice skills they do not always have access to at home.
For Staff Sgt. Graydon Irish, an inspector and training officer with the Montana Army National Guard, that hands-on time was one of the biggest takeaways.
“It was the first time our soldiers got to be in a truck designed for one mission,” Irish said.
He explained, the week was built in stages. Crews started with classroom work, moved into dry runs and then finished with live-fire training.
“The run part of it is where we get to light an aircraft prop on fire and then just spend hours putting the fire out, restarting the fire, putting the fire out,” Irish said.
That repetition is a major part of the training.
Capt. Timothy Lenihan, commander of the 1049th Firefighter Company, said the more firefighters can practice with their gear and equipment, the better prepared they are for a real response.
“With firefighting, the more reps you can get, putting on your gear, using the equipment, the better the soldier is going to be when it comes to a real-world situation,” Lenihan said.
While this kind of joint training was new for the crews involved, their foundations are similar.
Brett Whitmore, a captain with the Great Falls Airport Fire Department, said Department of Defense firefighters begin with the same basic training in San Angelo, Texas, before moving on to their respective stations.
“So we all come out with the exact same training when we’re done with tech school,” Whitmore said. “And so we’re familiar with a lot of things and we do a lot of the same stuff.”
This experience was the chance to bring that shared foundation into a hands-on setting for training.
Irish said the bigger goal is not just putting out flames. It is building more well-rounded firefighters who can work with other crews before they are called to a real emergency.
“So if we’re called to state active duty or if there’s a natural disaster, we have more skills and more resources,” Irish said.
That kind of coordination could matter in a larger response, where different crews may be asked to work together quickly.
