NOTN- The Juneau International Airport will conduct a full-scale emergency response exercise on Saturday, July 26, simulating an aircraft crash and live fire response. The exercise will run from approximately 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is part of required Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety training.
Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon says residents can expect to see visible black smoke and flames on the airport grounds as part of the simulation.
“They’ll be conducting a simulated airport crash and live fire training to allow everybody to get a chance to play all their roles. So this will be controlled burning of fuel, which will produce black smoke to replicate a real world aircraft fire, and so there will be a lot of emergency response vehicles in and around the airport. But again, there’s no danger to the public.”
The exercise is being conducted in coordination with local emergency response agencies and the burning complies with Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) open burning guidelines, which allow limited black smoke emissions for firefighter training purposes. Airport officials say all reasonable efforts are being made to limit environmental impact and minimize the duration of smoke.
To support the drill, Mayor Weldon says the Airport Dike Trail parking lot off Radcliffe Road will be closed to the public, “airport dyke trail parking lot will be closed from 5pm on Friday, July 25 to 1pm on Saturday, July 26 So, and that’s usually one of their staging areas. So just be aware, if you’d like to walk that trail, you might pick a different trail to walk Saturday morning or walk in the afternoon.”
Airport authorities thank the public for their cooperation and understanding as they conduct this important safety training.
