Originally Posted by
RatherBeFlying
They need to be able to distinguish between tire/wheel/brake fires where three minutes is allowed before ARFF arrives - and uncontrolled fuel fed fires demanding immediate evacuation.
The idea that ARFF is required to be at the scene of an emergency within three minutes is one of the most commonly held incorrect beliefs among people who are familiar with aviation. A three minute response time must be demonstrated (under rather ideal conditions) as a part of airport certification.
All that ARFF has to do is respond to emergencies in a fire truck. Three minutes is generally viewed as a target response maximum but there is nothing requiring it.
14 CFR §139.319(H):
H. Response requirements.
(1) With the aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment required under this part and the number of trained personnel that will assure an effective operation, each certificate holder must -
(i) Respond to each emergency during periods of air carrier operations; and
(ii) When requested by the Administrator,
demonstrate compliance with the response requirements specified in this section.
(2) The response required by paragraph
(h)(1)(ii) of this section must achieve the following performance criteria [emphasis added]:
(i) Within 3 minutes from the time of the alarm, at least one required aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle must reach the midpoint of the farthest runway serving air carrier aircraft from its assigned post or reach any other specified point of comparable distance on the movement area that is available to air carriers, and begin application of extinguishing agent.
(ii) Within 4 minutes from the time of alarm, all other required vehicles must reach the point specified in paragraph (h)(2)(i) of this section from their assigned posts and begin application of an extinguishing agent.
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The requirement is that ARFF must respond to each emergency during periods of air carrier operations. There is no time requirement for those responses.
I bolded the part of the regulation which states the
other part of the regulation that the time requirements apply to. The time requirements do not apply to (H)(1)(i), and it would be absurd if they did. (What if it's snowing? Are you going to fine or jail the fire crew?)