D/FW AIRPORT — The black smoke could be seen for miles.
But a big fire at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Wednesday was only for training.
A mockup of an Airbus A380 superjumbo jet burned at the airport's newly-renovated Fire Training Research Center.
The $30 million project has state-of-the-art technology to train firefighters from around the world in airport emergencies.
"This is the game-changing idea. This is where new fruit is going to be born to save lives," said Jim Crites, DFW's executive vice president of operations.
In addition to the airplane mock-up, the facility has a new control center and burn pits.
More than 15,000 firefighters have trained at the FTRC since it opened 18 years ago.
The Austin Fire Department said Thursday that it has received a retired Boeing 727 from Fed Ex to do these exercises with.
"This is going to provide fantastic training for our airport firefighters," Chief of Staff for AFD Harry Evans said in an e-mail.
