KING5
NORTH BEND, Wash. — There’s a new report surrounding a training exercise mishap in which firefighters ended up spraying jet fuel instead of water.
The State Patrol Fire Academy in North Bend is the place for firefighter training in Washington. What we learn from the report is that the academy staff knew in October they had a problem with the aircraft mock up — a prop that firefighters use to simulate a airplane crash. Port of Seattle crews from Sea-Tac halted their training that day. They came back four days later with assurances that the problem was fixed. It wasn’t, and here’s what happened.
Jet fuel ended up in the prop’s fire suppression system and in the firefighter’s water hoses. The training exercise exploded in a ball of fire and was quickly halted. Fortunately, there were only minor injuries to two Port of Seattle firefighters. But this has turned into a costly accident. The State Patrol, which runs the academy, has spent $500,000 cleaning up fuel out of the soil. And the aircraft training prop is destroyed — another $100,000.
Full story: Multiple factors caused firefighter training inferno, report says