The weekend of July 25-27 once again brought the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds to Rochester for the 2008 ESL International Air Show. The Thunderbirds were the headliners of a show that also featured the U.S. Army's Golden Knights Parachute demo team, and flights by an F-15, F/A-18, the Canadian Harvards, and many others. Airport Firefighters stayed busy throughout the weekend ensuring the entire show area remained safe for not only the air show crowd, but for the vendors, visiting aircraft, and the personnel who came with them. The airport remained open throughout the show, so we also had our normal duties of protecting the airport and the passengers flying in and out of Rochester.
         Local 1636 members were staged at various points around the airfield to best respond should an accident occur. For aircraft responses, Rescues 3, 4, and 5 were staffed with 2 man crews, while normal airport responses were to be handled by an AFD manned Engine that was on loan from the Monroe County Fire Bureau for the weekend. Members of the Monroe County HAZMAT team were also on hand in case their services were required. In the crowd area, Rescue 6 was placed in service along with Rescue 2 and a pair of EMS/Inspection 'Gators'. Duties in the crowd area included inspection of vendor booths and static aircraft displays, fire protection at hot refuels, assisting the Navy Seabees with their Kiddie Kommando course, keeping the crowd cool by filling the misters, and assisting Monroe Ambulance with EMS responses.
         The weather was mostly cooperative this year (unlike 2005) and kept our EMS responses to a minimum. All of our other duties kept the night crew and those in the show area fairly busy throughout the weekend. Rescue 4 was required to standby at a hot refuel Monday morning, after the MV-22 Osprey put on a bonus demonstration flight before returning to MCAS New River, NC. There is a short video at the bottom of this page showing how quickly the Osprey can transition to normal flight by rotating it's engines.