See Smoke at DFW? Don't Worry - We're Training.
If you happen to see fire and burning activity at DFW Airport, it is our state-of-the-art Fire Training Research Center in action. During our training periods, you will see black smoke as a result of these training fires. Below, you will find the schedule for those training periods.
Fire Training Schedule
Training occurs nearly every day at our Fire Training Research Facility. Smoke activity will be visible near the southwest end of the Airport. We will continue to update this page with the most accurate scheduled dates. Please note changes can occur at any time and research activity may also extend past the scheduled times, especially during inclement weather conditions.
All times in CST
Sept 18 – 8 a.m. - noon
Sept 25-28 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 2 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 5 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 9 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 10 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 12 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 13 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 16 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 17 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 19 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 27 – 8 a.m. - noon
Oct 30 – 8 a.m. - noon
About
The DFW Fire Training Research Center trains fire fighters locally, nationally and internationally in the specialty of airport/aircraft fire fighting.
We use many different aircraft-designed mock-ups, and purposely ignite the mock-ups to train these fire fighters. During training periods you will see black smoke as a result of these training fires. The rising smoke that you see quickly dissipates into the atmosphere which is a way to know the smoke you see is from the training fires. The DFW FTRC uses clean burning propane and a liquid fuel called E-III – both are environmentally friendly.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) continually monitors the training fires to ensure state and federal guidelines are followed.