The first Herc (short for Hercules or LC130) of the season flew in tonight. On it was the South Pole fire truck. The truck is flown in every year in the summer and back out in the winter since they have no place to store it away from the harsh environment. As the truck emerged from the back, it really did look like the plane was giving birth.
The plane didn’t stay long. As soon as the truck was unloaded, they loaded up some cargo and approximately 30 winterovers to go home, including Dave, the cool guy that I’m replacing here on the ice. It was a short turnover but I think I learned enough that I feel pretty good about my upcoming job.
So the winter team has no fire truck!? Isnt that a bit scary, what do they do without one if somthing big happens?
ReplyDeleteSo I checked with someone on the fire team about this. The truck in the summer is a requirement of the air guard for the flights coming in. Since there are no flights in winter, then this requirement is gone. I also heard that there is nowhere to store the truck in the winter and that it probably wouldn't run well at those temperatures anyway.
ReplyDeleteIf there's a fire, there is a ton of fire equipment and extenguishers in lockers all over the station. The station itself is equipped with sprinklers. If there is a fire off-station, then they take snowmobiles, etc. to get to it.
They typically have at least one fire drill per season. They actually just had one last Saturday. During the drill or a real fire, those not on the fire team are supposed to go to the galley or the gym depending on where they tell us to go.
Oh yeah, it just so happens that I live in the emergency pod of the station. It can be blocked off and there's a power facility underneath somewhere.