If you've ever flown in or out of Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, you've benefited from the presence of Vermont's Air National Guard base, home of the 158th Fighter Wing. Its hangars are visible across the tarmac from the BTV terminal. The base is best known as the home of 20 F-35 fighter jets, but it also houses another fleet of equipment that's more important to Vermonters' daily lives — its state-of-the-art firefighting and emergency support vehicles. (Paid Post) If you've ever flown in or out of Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, you've benefited from the presence of Vermont's Air National Guard base, home of the 158th Fighter Wing. Its hangars are visible across the tarmac from the BTV terminal. The base is best known as the home of 20 F-35 fighter jets, but it also houses another fleet of equipment that's more important to Vermonters' daily lives — its state-of-the-art firefighting and emergency support vehicles. The newest of the base's four fire trucks cost roughly a million dollars. If there's an emergency at the airport or on the runway with a civilian plane, it's VTANG's fire and rescue unit that responds. In fact, the unit is also the primary agency responsible for 911 calls from nearby South Burlington neighborhoods, and it provides backup for first responders throughout Chittenden County, from Winooski to Williston to Shelburne. In 2024, the VTANG fire department fielded more than 1,000 calls, including approximately 500 emergency responses, with 86 percent of those being mutual-aid responses in the community, according to Lt. Col. Meghan Smith, VTANG's public affairs officer. The department is staffed by 27 rigorously trained professionals, many of whom also serve on volunteer fire and rescue squads in the communities where they live. Those towns benefit from the top-notch training the department provides. Fire chief Brannon Soter estimates that it costs between $5 million and $6 million a year to run the department — money that comes from the federal government, not local property taxes or the airport. "A lot of people don't know about who we are and what we do, or what we're able to do," Soter said. "It just benefits everybody around." The base brings other assets, too, for Vermonters and our allies around the world. Read on for more examples. Driving economic impact The VTANG base employs 400 full-time and 600 part-time staff members, compensating them with a combined $65 million in pay and benefits. Many of them are from Vermont, like fire chief Soter, but some live in other states and travel here to complete their service requirements. When they do, they stay in local hotels, said Col. Daniel Finnegan, 158th Fighter Wing commander. Finnegan noted that people sign up to serve in Vermont because the base has a good reputation among service members who want to fly or work with the F-35s. They know "the…