The City of Birmingham provides the firefighters who put out fires when airplanes have emergencies, but the airport has agreed to cover the cost.

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a cooperation agreement with the Birmingham Airport Authority in which the authority will pay the city for aircraft rescue firefighting services based at the airport.

A new $12.4 million Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting station opened at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in December, funded primarily by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue already provided the staffing for the operation, which moved last year from sharing space with the Air National Guard firefighting station.

“We want to get reimbursed,” for the cost of the firefighters, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin told the City Council.

He did not know the amount of reimbursement the city will get from the Airport Authority, but it will cover the cost of firefighters who man the station, which is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, with three crews taking turns working 24-hour shifts, he said.

The agreement is for up to three years and calls for the Birmingham Airport Authority to reimburse the city for salary expenses of each Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service employee working at the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Station located near the airport terminal. The building has sleeping quarters for seven firefighters. A watch room has an unobstructed view of the airfield and runways.

The Birmingham Airport Authority spent about $1.6 million to purchase two new fire trucks, housed at the station, specially equipped with foam pumps capable of extinguishing aircraft fires without using water.