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Dubai airport flies high in fire safety

DUBAI - Dubai International Airport is billed to be the only one in the world currently to achieve a Category 10 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rating for its Fire Safety services. The rating comes into effect from September 1 this year.

Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and Chairman of Emirates airline, recently visited the airport fire station and reviewed all the developments there. Shaikh Ahmed said: "It is a proud moment for the DCA to have achieved this. Safety is a priority at any airport. With the new generation of aircraft soon coming into operation - such as the A380 - ICAO has set down very strict regulations. We have planned and attained this well in advance. Every airport that will be receiving the A380 has to be Category 10."

The DCA has invested Dh16 million in the last three years to get the rating. The investments include five new state-of-the-art Rosenbauer fire tenders, a new upgraded control room with the lastest touch screen alarm monitoring system and an ultra high pressure fire fighting system. The new alarm monitoring system enables all incoming alarm to be acted upon with minimum delay. It includes a group call system which sends out pre-recorded messages in English and Arabic to all persons concerned in an emergency.

The ultra high pressure firefighting system allows easy access to areas which are otherwise difficult to reach with a standard fire tender. Areas such as the baggage belts under the Shaikh Rashid Terminal and the Departures Building. The new fire tenders include the Rosenbauer Rapid Intervention Vehicle. This vehicle is primarily intended for actively combating aircraft fire and to facilitate evacuation of occupants. The vehicle is an all-wheel drive and also suited for rough cross-country conditions. Built of lightweight materials and with the top speed of approximately 115kmph, the vehicle has the capacity to reach the scene of an emergency rapidly and with high mobility.

One of the highlights of the vehicle is that it has a special camera mounted on the top, in front of the vehicle. This camera has the drivers enhanced vision system (DEVS) and is vital in the three difficult aspects of poor visibility response - navigating to the accident site, locating the accident and negotiating the terrain and obstacles on the way to the accident site.

DEVS is a fully integrated system - the low visibility enhanced vision system uses a forward looking infrared device and state-of-the-art low visibility enhanced vision technology. This will help in improving visual awareness in smoky, foggy or dark environment by sensing thermal radiation instead of visible light. The camera has a range of 800 metres in zero forward visibility, because of which the driver of the vehicle can spot any person or object within 800 metres of the vehicle in zero visibility conditions.

Currently, there are three fire stations located at Dubai International Airport and this is expected to go up to five by 2006. Mohammad Ahli, Director (Operations), DCA, said: "Dubai International Airport is not only among the fastest growing airports, it is also among the top 10 airports in the world today. We have set out new standards in safety by reaching Category 10. Now it is important to us that we maintain a very high standard in all our services and facilities. We aim to be up-to-date with fire-fighting technology and provide the best for our customers in terms of equipment and trained personnel."

Richard Radford, Senior Chief Fire Officer, the man behind all the development at the Fire Section, said: "Dubai International Airport is probably the only airport in the world, as of today, to have a Category 10 rating for its rescue and firefighting services. The management at the DCA has been far-sighted enough to work on this project and get this rating well in advance. We are at a vantage point as far as our firefighting capabilities are concerned. It is now a challenge for us to ensure that we stay ahead."