Smoke, fire and emergency vehicles expected to be seen at Columbia airport. Here’s why
Passengers flying into or out of Columbia Metropolitan Airport this week might see smoke, fire and a number of emergency vehicles near the runway, officials recently said.
But it won’t have anything to do with the wildfires that are raging across South Carolina. It won’t even be a real threat, because it’s all part of a emergency training exercise, airport officials said in a news release.
On Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 3p.m., airport staff along with several local mutual aid agencies and about 50 volunteers, will conduct CAE’s AirSafe — a large-scale training exercise that the airport holds every three years, according to the release.
“No one is in imminent danger,” airport officials said in the release.
No commercial flights will be affected by the training exercise, although anyone at the airport, or those in the area on Thursday should be aware that they might see staged emergency situations on the airport campus and near the runway, officials said. But these effects and emergency responders only will be there for training purposes, according to the release.
In addition to the airport campus, the training event will be contained to the South Carolina Aeronautics hangar, the airport’s West Cargo apron and Metropolitan Drive off Enterprise Parkway, officials said.
The main terminal will not be used for the training exercise, according to the release.
“This training allows our staff and the mutual aid agencies we partner with across the community to practice responding quickly and effectively in the event of a large-scale incident taking place on the airport campus,” Columbia Metropolitan Airport’s Interim President, CEO and CFO Gregg Hornsby said in the release. “This tri-annual event is taken very seriously. The local community and our passengers should travel with a peace of mind knowing that skilled professionals regularly train, both daily and in larger formats like this, to ensure appropriate response measures are known and executed properly as needed.”
Despite the wildfires that are an issue in the Pee Dee area, among other parts of South Carolina, airport officials told The State Monday that the training exercise will proceed as scheduled. But the officials did say that the training exercise would conform to any directives about a burning ban issued by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
Anyone seeking more information about the training exercise can call the airport’s public safety division at 803-822-5025.
In 2024, more than 1.3 passengers flew through the airport that offers daily flights to 11 major airports in 10 cities, according to the release.
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This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Smoke, fire and emergency vehicles expected to be seen at Columbia airport. Here’s why."
