Residents may see flames and smoke near the southwest corner of Reno-Tahoe International Airport this week, but officials say there’s no cause for alarm. RNO fire teams are participating in live fire training exercises through Friday, Oct. 9 as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) mandated safety requirements for commercial airports.
Officials added that the exercises won’t cause any operational delays or impacts to travel in and out of the airport or on nearby roads.
RNO’s fire team will be partnering with the Nevada Air National Guard to train with a Mobile Aircraft Fire Trainer, a replica aircraft fuselage, that’s been staged near Airway Drive and E. Peckham Lane. The training covers procedures and techniques need to respond if an aircraft incident occurs, airport officials said in a statement.
“These drills provide airport firefighters an opportunity to perform a coordinated response and the ability to train with their equipment in actual aircraft firefighting conditions,” the statement added.
Previous training exercises for airport emergency personnel have included simulated mass casualty events as well.
