NSW emergency services conducted a planned emergency exercise at Western Sydney International Airport earlier today.
The NSW Police Force, Fire and Rescue NSW, WSI, NSW Ambulance and NSW Rural Fire Service were all involved in the exercise.
The exercise involved all emergency services responding to a jet fuel leak at the airport while a mulch fire burns nearby in dry and windy conditions.
The goal of the exercise was to make sure all emergency services are able to confidently and effectively respond to any potential incident at the airport in preparation for its late 2026 opening.
Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden, Commander of South West Metropolitan Region, said exercises like this are vital before major infrastructure becomes accessible to the public.
“Today’s exercise is about making sure we are utilising best practice across emergency services, so that when Western Sydney Airport opens, we can confidently meet any issue that arises,” he said.
“This exercise is also about collaboration between emergency management stakeholders, all of which are the best at what they do.
“In the future, we plan to run more of these exercises, focusing on different scenarios, to make sure the people of NSW know that their public safety is in the best hands.”
Western Sydney International Airport Chief Operating Officer Matt Duffy said the exercise wwas a great opportunity for airport staff to collaborate with first responders and jointly test emergency management protocols.
“In a genuine emergency, we would be working hand in glove with emergency services, so exercises like this are a great way to put our policies into practice in a live environment to ensure we’re all as prepared as possible,” he said.
“This also marks a new chapter for the airport – with construction now more than 85 per cent complete, we’ll soon begin a lengthy period of operational testing where we really stress test all our infrastructure, systems, and processes ahead of our opening in late 2026.”
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