Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting

ARFF Firefighter Live Fire Training

The department's two ARFF Trucks.

Live Fire Training at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.

The Lakeland Fire Department’s  Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Division (ARFF) provides protection for the Lakeland Linder International Airport (LAL), a Class 1 Index B Airport.

The ARFF team at the Lakeland Fire Department is made up of 45 firefighters certified in aircraft firefighting. These firefighters are specially trained to handle the unique challenges that occur in aircraft fire and crash incidents. Due to the mass casualty potential of an aviation emergency, the speed with which emergency response equipment and personnel arrive at the scene of the emergency is of paramount importance. Their arrival and initial mission to secure the aircraft against all hazards, particularly fire, increases the survivability of the passengers and crew on board. Airport firefighters have advanced training in the application of firefighting foams, dry chemical, and clean agents used to extinguish burning aviation fuel in and around an aircraft in order to maintain a path for evacuating passengers to exit the fire hazard area. Also, should fire be encountered in the cabin, the ARFF responders must work to control/extinguish that fire as well.

LFD’s ARFF services contribute to the airport’s existing index score which supports existing and future commercial opportunities at LAL.

Although Lakeland Linder International Airport does not currently offer commercial airline services, the airport offers extensive charter and private air services. The airport also serves as a diversion airport for Tampa and Orlando airports. LAL is also home to an Amazon Air hub, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Hurricane Hunters. The Lakeland Fire Department’s ARFF Division provides valuable protection services that make services like these possible.