b'50 YLW OPERATIONSPHOTO: MICHAEL G HOLZHEY Using the airports own vehicle reduced risk for YLW team members. Firefighters were inside the cab the entire time, and it has its own ventilation system and its own breathing apparatus, he explains. Taking direction from the British Columbia Wildfire Service, airport firefighters first helped extinguish an overflow fire at a nearby landfill. Because of their work, the city was able to get their landfill operation up and running faster than they thought, says Samaddar.Then, the airport truck was deployed to an area where fires coming over a nearby mountain were threatening a nearby neighborhood. The team was able to shoot water onto houses to prevent them from catching fire and burning, Samaddar reports. We serve a large area made up of many communities, and having our fire truck in those communities helped them.Inside its own terminal, YLW opened a Customer Care Desk to help customers who came to the airport when it was closed. Desk personnel also assisted travelers who had questions but could not get through to the airlines on the phone or online. We had international visitors who were in the middle of all of this who were being told to leave but didnt know how to leave, Damage from the fires is beginning to heal. Samaddar recalls. We helped them with decisions so they could do what they needed to do. In addition, we normally dont have our administrative office open on weekends, but we opened the office so staff could answer peoples calls. That was very much appreciated by the public because they were frantically trying to SCHIBECI reach an airline and get advice. We were able to answer peoples PP600 MICRO PLANER questions with a real live person as opposed to some kind of Stripe & Marking Removal System recording.NO GHOST LINES | NO TRACE Key TakeawaysHIGH PRODUCTION RATES | LOW OPERATING COST Samaddar reports that the airport lost about $100,000 in revenue during the closures and is using its business interruption insurance to recapture those funds. He advises all airport leaders to look at their policies carefully to see if they have that type of insurance. Another key takeaway highlighted in a post-incident report assembled by the airport was the importance of having good relationships with provincial and federal officials and entities. Using a collaborative decision-making process with such stakeholders helped YLW have a border moved that allowed the airport to begin nighttime air service. Finally, Samaddar notes that this type of collaboration could become even more important in the future. When we look at emergency response and the impacts of climate change, we need to have updated plans in place, he reflects. We are seeing fires now where we have never seen fires before. And when looking at business continuity plans, it is important to make sure you work with all the agencies in all the provinces. Get to know them very well and develop a plan on how youre going to attack fires and maintain airport operations as a vital supply chain link to the Sold by: community. Mecom Equipment LLC | 209.466.5135 | mecomsales@aol.comFOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.SCHIBECI.COMMay | June 2024AirportImprovement.com'