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Lake Havasu City fire captain describes airport rescue readiness
Summary
Fire Captain Rich Schulenberg outlined aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) duties at Lake Havasu City Airport, explained hot fueling support for military aircraft and described community service motivations.
Rich Schulenberg, a fire captain at Station 6 in Lake Havasu City, described Tuesday how the airport fire crew supports aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) and enables hot fueling operations for military aircraft. The airport draws flights from across Arizona and California because of its lower fuel costs, Schulenberg said, and when military aircraft are refueled without shutting down engines — a practice called hot fueling — the airport requires ARFF services to be on-site.
Schulenberg said the ARFF apparatus at Station 6 carries large volumes of water, specialized foam and a dry chemical agent known as Purple-K to fight ‘‘3-D’’ fires. ‘‘This right here is the backbone for the ARFF service in this hot fueling. If we didn't have this, this hot fueling would not take place,’’ he said. He said the crew trains to respond when callers dial 911 and that ‘‘we train to hopefully make their worst day a little bit better.’’
In the interview, Schulenberg also described his path to the fire service: he moved from San Diego after working as a retail manager and earned EMT certification before joining the fire department. Off duty, he said he enjoys mountain biking and using the nearby lake and desert for recreation. Lake Havasu City officials thanked Schulenberg and the airport fire crew for keeping pilots, military personnel and the community safe.
