Hours after a deadly crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York, which saw a plane crash into a fire-rescue truck late Sunday night, Los Angeles International Airport firefighters are outlining their own emergency response protocol. 

LAX used to lead the nation in “runway incursions,” or incidents where planes or vehicles end up on a runway being used by a plane to take off or land, but has made significant progress to reduce that troubling number. They say that the renewed efforts, which are laser-focused on safety, are a collaboration between multiple stations and agencies. 

One of those stations in Los Angeles Fire Department Station Five, where Battalion Chief Lance McCloskey outlined the process behind their emergency operations. 

“You have the control tower that’s talking with the plane,” McCloskey said. “They find out that there’s something going on, the tower contacts Los Angeles World Airport operations, and then they contact us.”

He says that each of the firefighters who operate the neon green fleet of Aircraft Rescue Firefighting rigs is certified with the Federal Aviation Administration and that they renew specialized aircraft rescue training every year. On top of that, each firefighter needs a special access badge that allows them to get onto the tarmac. 

“You have to have what they call ‘restricted area driving,’ and you have to do eight hours during the day and eight hours at night, so that you know what the rules of the road are,” McCloskey said. 

Air traffic controllers are tasked with making sure that planes and firefighting rigs share the space safely, using different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots landing the planes and firefighters responding to the scene to help, McCloskey said.

In order to troubleshoot the problem, crews are also educated on different planes and their components, including how many engines the aircraft may have or how many exit doors there are. He said that knowledge proved instrumental in early March, when a Boeing 787 made an emergency landing at LAX due to a midair engine fire. 

“In this situation, it was determined by the flight crew and the pilot to go down the slides and also use the stairs, so that’s what they did and we helped support that plan,” McCloskey said. 

In the last six months, LAFD has responded to 85 aircraft emergencies, all incidents in which they helped the aircraft land safely and ensure passengers were taken care of. 

More from CBS News