AF, Army firefighters contain real-world blaze in Iraq

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Thomas Trower
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFPN) --  Air Force and Army firefighters worked in the searing sun July 22 to contain a fire that engulfed six closely situated structures here.

A call to the Joint Base Balad Fire Department at 12:30 p.m. set into motion an emergency-management response of firefighters and civilian volunteers.

No one was seriously injured in the blaze, which caused approximately $1 million in damage, said Master Sgt. David Clifford, the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron assistant fire chief. However, three firefighters were treated at the Air Force Theater Hospital for heat stress-related symptoms and later released.

More than a dozen firefighters arrived within minutes, quickly realized they needed help to contain the fire and sounded a second alarm, Sergeant Clifford said.

Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Nordstrom, deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C., was one of the firefighters on scene.

"We sized up the situation, completed a 360 (degree) inspection and tried to ventilate the facility to put out the fire," Sergeant Nordstrom said.

"We tried offensive operations at first, but with the intense heat and the limited initial manpower we had (forced us) to switch to defensive operations to keep the fire from spreading until assistance could arrive," Sergeant Clifford said.

Assistance arrived moments later and continued to flow in waves.

"I arrived on the second run-engine and tried to enter the rear of the fire before pulling back to a defensive position," said Senior Airman Dennard Miller, a JBB Fire Department firefighter, deployed from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

"We were calling in vehicles from throughout the fleet, including the west-side fire department across the flightline," said Sergeant Clifford, who is deployed from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. "(Volunteers) even diverted water trucks to the scene to replenish the trucks as they hosed the flames."

"The response by our joint firefighting unit was incredible," said Col. Sal Nodjomian, the 332nd Expeditionary Support Group commander and senior officer on scene during the incident. "Their textbook performance allowed us to minimize the damage caused and prevent any serious injuries. And to do it all in 117-degree weather shows the true professionalism of our joint team."

"The amount of assistance provided was amazing," Sergeant Clifford said. Firefighters contained the inferno at approximately 4:30 p.m. Crews remained on scene to extinguish hotspots and prevent a new fire.

The JBB Fire Department has Air Force and Army fire department members from across the U.S. These emergency responders receive training from the same military training facility and share tactics, techniques and procedures.

"We receive the same training, but when we're deployed, we really get to see the services come together," said Sergeant Nordstrom, who calls Iron River, Mich., home. "The Army is completely integrated into the Air Force chain of command."

"(The firefighters) work so well together, we don't think about there being two separate services," said Airman Miller, a Savannah, Ga., native, who has never worked in a joint-service fire station until now. "The (Soldiers) are hard workers and we learn a lot from them."

These working relationships allow the JBB Fire Department to respond quickly and accurately to emergency situations, officials said. 

The Soldiers and Airmen contained the two-alarm fire before any operational facilities were impacted.

The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.

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