“The Saipan airport is the only one in the area that can perform a live-burn exercise,” Commonwealth Ports Authority Executive Director Efrain Camacho reported to the CPA board of directors which met on Wednesday.
Camacho said airport personnel from Guam and other Micronesian areas come to Saipan for their live-burn exercises.
Saipan’s ARFF unit consists of 35 personnel.
It runs two 24-hour shifts with 14 personnel assigned to each shift, and a daily average of nine personnel on-duty per shift. All personnel work 40 hours per week.
A fire captain is in charge of each shift.
Saipan’s ARFF ensures the protection of life and property at the airport through an effective and efficient delivery of professional aircraft fire rescue and emergency medical services.
Last July, Brig. Gen. Philip M. Ruhlman, commander of the U.S. Air Force 36th Wing stationed at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, lauded the capabilities of the Saipan airport — its infrastructure as well as the day-to-day readiness of its firefighters.
Ruhlman is considering the use of Saipan’s airstrip in case of emergency or humanitarian deployment of U.S. military aircraft.
He also met with CNMI legislators and discussed the impact on the region of the transfer of 8,000 U.S. Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa, Japan to Guam by 2014.
