May 13, 2000 
Airport's lucky No. 13
By LYLE HARVEY -- Calgary Sun
 There's nothing unlucky about this Number 13. 
 Thanks to the recent purchase of two $850,000 fire trucks, parked in the newly opened Number 13 firehall, the Calgary International Airport now sits in the same league as counterparts in Vancouver and Toronto. 
 Calgary's airport became a "Category 9" last March 9, which means it will be able to accommodate bigger planes and more flights as the city continues to grow. 
 To qualify as Category 9, an airport has to have on site at least three fire trucks carrying a minimum of 24,300 litres of water and anti-fire foam. 
 And fire crews must be able to get from the airport firehall to the midpoint of the furthest runway within three minutes, the maximum time it generally takes for fire to burn through an airplane's fuselage. 
 "Having these two trucks has increased our firefighting capability," Don Redick, co-ordinator of airport emergency services, said during a demonstration yesterday. 
 The state-of-the-art trucks, both of which have an infrared monitoring system, hold 12,150 litres of water each. 
 The two new rigs come in addition to two older trucks in the relocated No. 13 firehall, which opened in January. 
 The trucks and the $2-million building are owned by the Calgary Airport Authority, which contracts the services of five firefighters from the Calgary Fire Department. 
 Two city crew members also work at No. 13. 
 "The new trucks are part of a bigger plan to upgrade our services," said John Terpstra of the airport authority. 
 "We've come up with a unit that is the pride of airports across Canada."