Heathrow Airport Fire Station
Being one of the world’s very largest airports, Heathrow Airport is required to have a significant fire and rescue capability.
Airports have unique fire appliances not found anywhere else. They are both unique and on a much bigger scale.
The Austrian company Rosenbauer is a well known manufacturer of these specialist fire appliances for ARFF (Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting).
Rosenbauer Rescue Stairs
Used for the rapid disembarkation of passengers and providing a platform for firefighters to make entry into an aircraft’s cabin, the Rescue Stairs can extend 8.9 metres to reach the top deck of an Airbus A380 if needed.
The mechanics of the escape stairs ensure they stay flat regardless of the height to which they are deployed.
A ramp deploys at the bottom of the emergency stairs for a safe transition to ground level.
Rescue Stairs Virtual Tour
Images on this page with a red border is a 360 virtual tour which can be used like Google Street View.
The tour was taken from the platform with the stairs fully extended giving a great view of the airport.
Rosenbauer’s website has lots of detail on the Rescue Stairs.
Rosenbauer Panther 6×6
The Panther is Heathrow Airport Fire Service’s standard response vehicle for aircraft incidents.
The appliances deploy from the two fire stations at the airport, one in the centre close to the air traffic control tower (ATC) and the other at the eastern end of the airport.
For firefighting they have a turret mounted on the front which is remotely controlled from within the cab.
The HRET (High Reach Extendable Turret) is also remotely controlled from the cab to deliver fire fighting foam from above on to the aircraft as well as being to reach in low.
Rosenbauer’s website contains lots of detail on the Panthers. I also photographed one of Heathrow’s Panthers at the 2016 Odiham Fire Show,
Crew Seat Virtual Tour
Driver’s Seat Virtual Tour
Angloco Scania Fire Appliance
The Airport Fire Service at Heathrow is responsible not just for aircraft incidents but also incidents within the buildings.
To that end there are fire engines which would be just at home in a town’s fire station.
The appliances provide a first strike capability, their role being to attend incidents in the airport’s buildings roads.
They will usually arrive first with rapid reinforcement from nearby London Fire Brigade fire stations.
Land Rover Discovery Command Vehicle
The Land Rover Discovery is Fire 1, the command vehicle for when there is a significant incident on the airfield.
Comparing the Discovery to the Rosenbauer Panther shows the relative size of the Panthers.
Heathrow’s Size
Everyone knows HeathrowAirport is big, but its size can only be really appreciated when it is compared to the size of somewhere familiar like central London.
The airport covers an area equivalent to the distance between Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London.
The map graphic shows central London and Heathrow at the same scale.
