Port Columbus International Airport

Rural/Metro has been serving the Port Columbus International Airport since 1995. In the last ten years the service has grown from strictly Aircraft and Fire Firefighting Services (ARFF) with a staff of four to now more than two dozen two dozen fully certified firefighter and paramedics. Rural/Metro has now grown by adding security assistance to the airport.

The on-duty ARFF staff consists of a Fire Chief, Captain, three firefighter/paramedics and three firefighter/EMT’s. The security component provides guards twenty-four hours a day at two Air Operations Area (AOA) checkpoints and a minimum of two guards providing traffic enforcement on the Arrivals and Departures drives leading into the terminal building. A unique concept pioneered by Rural/Metro supplements this staffing with "reserve" or part-time personnel that maintain identical certifications as the full-time staff members. These "reserve" personnel help fill vacancies without incurring additional overtime; a further cost-effective strategy that benefits Port Columbus.

The Port Columbus Airport serves Ohio’s capital city as a Federal Aviation Administration certificated Index "C" airport. The Airport in turn, is served by ten airlines (Air Canada, America West, American, Continental, Delta, Midwest Express, Northwest, Southwest, United and US Airways) and has an average of 78,000 average annual air carrier landings serving 6.6 million passengers per year. The ARFF contingent must be able to respond to and traverse the 2000-acre airfield with two parallel air-carrier runways. Additionally the ARFF department responds to emergencies at the Airport Terminal, associated aviation facilities for five Fixed Base Operators, and to the eleven other commercial establishments (hotels and restaurants) located on the Airport property.

With an inventory of three primary crash vehicles, two advanced life support equipped ambulances and two disaster support vehicles; Rural/Metro maintains a comprehensive training and inspection program to assure the Port Authority the highest level of safety.

Rural/Metro considers the Port Columbus Airport Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting department one of the most professional and intensely dedicated operations in the company’s extended aviation services. It has been recognized for its operational innovations and continues to progress toward an ever-increasing need for quality ARFF services.