Grand Canyon National Airport adds new firefighting vehicle

The Grand Canyon National Park Airport has a new firefighting tool in its arsenal.

ADOT, which manages the airport, recently added a new Panther 4x4 Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) to its fleet. ARFF trucks are specifically designed to respond to aircraft incidents and fires at airports and other aviation facilities. 

The 35-foot-long ARFF can carry 1,500 gallons of water, 500 pounds of dry chemical agents and 200 gallons of foam. Firefighting foams and dry chemical agents, according to airport operations manager Michael Cockrum, create a “blanket” on top of aviation fuel and hydrocarbons. This prevents oxygen from reaching a fire and flammable vapors from igniting or re-igniting. It’s also easier, Cockrum said, for firefighters to control and direct how much foam to put on a fire and where. This can reduce the time required to extinguish a fire, too.

Located in Tusayan, the Grand Canyon National Park Airport serves the most visited tourist site in Arizona – the South Rim entrance to Grand Canyon National Park is two miles from the airport – and  is the only state-owned airport in the state. While many aircraft that use the airport are for sightseeing, Air Force One paid a visit in August 2023 and C-17 Globemaster transport airplanes have stopped over, too.

Craig Talatzko, an operations supervisor with the airport, says the ARFF truck can be used for more than aviation fires, if necessary, helping with small vehicle fires or brushfires.

The new truck replaces one that had been in service since 2009.