Fire Station 2 Ice runway

I posted about the fire station in town. We also have a station on the sea ice that we call station 2.







This is the runway and station 2 looking down from Observation Hill. Ob hill is the highest point that looks down on the town and runway. It is a marker to Scott and his crew,





It is located in "Ice town" which is about 2 miles from McMurdo. Out at station 2 our main duty is to watch the planes arrive and depart. This is why I had to attend the airport training in Utah this summer.

This is ice town looking down town from the fire house. There is a galley and bathroom located a short walk from the station. We all hate having to go to the bathroom at night because we have to go outside in the cold.



The ice runway is just that; a runway built on the ice. The planes that land are wheeled but also have skier capability. We usually get the bigger C-17's from Christchurch and the C-130's that run
fuel and supplies to the south pole and other out lying science areas.

This is a C-17 landing next to our fire truck.





This is a load master from the airforce walking under the engines of the C-17. The load masters are all dressed in black and we call them the black ninja's. We tease them from our trucks every time they land.










We have a bunch of different types of fire trucks at station 2. This is one of the older ones left over from the navy days. It has the controls of a tank and drives like one. It is the only fire truck on station with a sunroof and I have been know to hangout the sunroof on occasion.




On really nice days, I like to watch the planes from a top the truck. The pilots like it when we do this.









This is red 1. Yep it's not red. It is a dinosaur left over from the navy days too. We call this one the poo truck. It has a petroseal foam in it that is made out of old animal blood and after sitting more than 10 years it is rotting and smells like poo. We all hate this truck but still use it when nothing else is available.





This is the truck of choice. There are actually 2; red 2 and red 5. They drive like a normal F350 except for the tracks on the wheels. They will only do about 25 mph but go over the snow and ice better than a normal truck would.




I like working out at station 2 better than in town. There aren't as many people and the chief is not looking over our shoulders. The only bad part is the weather is worse out on the ice. We get more storms than in town and get snowed in more often. When we get snowed in we stay inside and eat frozen burritos and drink hot chocolate.

This is red 2 parked right outside the station in a condition 2 storm.


This is the walk to to galley from the station in condition 2. Winds are around 20-30 knots and the wind chill gets down to -50 F.








Just a cool picture of the C-17 with the sun coming up behind it.