AT a meeting of the Rotary Club of Saipan on Tuesday, Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter II Edward Dela Cruz and Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter I Oliver Igisaiar shared information about the Pacific Region ARFF Training Center or PRATC, as well as the challenge facing their department.
Dela Cruz said the PRATC is akin to “the firefighting version of Northern Marianas College.”
He said ARFF firefighters from Guam, Chuuk, Palau, Yap, Tinian, Rota, Majuro, Kosrae, and Pohnpei come to Saipan for the ARFF Pro Board certification training.
Pro Board certification is a standardized fire and rescue training recognized internationally, he added.
“If you pass a Pro Board test it’s recognized around the world,” Dela Cruz told Rotarians.
At the approximately $4 million PRATC training facility, Dela Cruz said cadets and firefighters undergo intensive training.
He said every month, ARFF firefighters battle jet fuel fires and train for scenarios that simulate aircraft accidents and incidents such as fuel spill, engine, wing and tire fires.
The monthly training at the fire pit is required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Dela Cruz said one issue facing ARFF is retention. The department, he added, “has a high turnover rate.”
He said many young firefighters leave the island with their newfound skills.
ARFF fire academies can take as long as two years to open up new cycles, he added.
“Running [a fire academy] is very expensive. We can’t open up again just for five people,” Dela Cruz said.
From left, Saipan Rotary Club President-elect Irene Holl, Past President Greg Borja, Club Service Director Mary Grace Bautista, Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter I Oliver Igisaiar, Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter II Edward Dela Cruz, Saipan Rotary Club Vice President Jessy Loomis and Secretary Joann Aquino.
