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Fuel spill exercise keeps response team ready

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  Water and fuels system maintenance Airmen, along with emergency responders and bioenvironmental engineering technicians, participated in a fuel spill training exercise at Spangdahlem Air Base, Aug. 7, 2015.

The exercise simulated 40,000 gallons of jet fuel spilling from a ruptured pipeline and included potential injuries and environmental hazards that ensue after a spill of this magnitude.

"This (exercise) helps us become faster and more vigilant at our job if a spill like this were to ever happen," said U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Hunter Moore, 52nd Civil Engineering Squadron water and fuel systems maintenance journeyman.

The 52nd Fighter Wing Inspector General office conducts this type of exercise annually to examine the risks, liabilities and capabilities of the wing's response plan to a large-scale fuel spill while simultaneously enhancing emergency readiness through situational training.

Immediately following a spill, firemen and medical Airmen tend to any injured victims while water and fuel systems maintenance Airmen have the task of minimizing the spread of fuel.

"Our main priority is containment," Moore said. "We seal the water drain system surrounding the spill area with plugs so it stops the fuel from spreading any further on base or worse, off base."

However, containing the fuel isn't the only priority after a spill. The Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight takes air samples to ensure the quality of air is safe. 

"The samples will tell us the level of toxins in the air," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Bethane Pasechnyk, 52nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron NCO in charge of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear readiness. "Depending on the levels, we will notify responders what kind of gear they should be in and whether or not the area needs to be evacuated."

Between testing the air, containing the spill and tending to anyone injured, the different agencies responding to the scene communicated to one another to complete the job. 

"The best thing we take away from this type of exercise is improving our inter-agency coordination," Pasechnyk said. "Knowing where everybody needs to be, who needs to be contacted and what correct steps need to be taken to control a real emergency is easier when you practice with the people you will be doing it with."