Narrative:

Several minutes prior to the incident; an air carrier had departed runway 27 and reported that he may have blown a nose gear tire on departure. At that time; rescue vehicles had been dispatched to inspect the runway for debris. The vehicles confirmed that there was debris on the runway including rubber and fiberglass. All of the debris was west of runway 18. There were 4 rescue vehicles on 27 along with several maintenance vehicles. At one point; one of the two rescue fire trucks had cleared off the field at the perimeter road. After that had happened a citabria had come in to land but had to go around due to a wind gust. While the citabria was in left traffic for 18; a rescue vehicle called asking to proceed west on 27 to take photos. I believe the beginning of his transmission was cut off by another aircraft or vehicle. I thought that it was the rescue fire truck on the runway and told him to proceed as requested and to remain west of runway 18 at all times. When I looked at the citabria landing; I saw the rescue vehicle crossing runway 18 behind the citabria that had just landed. It was then that I had realized that the rescue vehicle must have come from the terminal ramp east of runway 18. At no time was there a loss of separation but had the timing been different; there could have been. At the time of the incident; I had numerous vehicles and aircraft on multiple frequencies stepping on each other. Prior to the incident; I turned to the controller in charge and said; this is becoming too much; someone needs to open up ground. I am unsure if the controller in charge heard my request. Within a few minutes after the incident; a ground controller was located and ground was opened. Recommendation; it is easy to say what would have prevented this incident from occurring; being more aggressive in my call to open up ground.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FNT Controller working combined LC/GC position described a unexpected vehicle runway crossing event when several vehicles conducting runway inspections confused the crossing clearance.

Narrative: Several minutes prior to the incident; an air carrier had departed Runway 27 and reported that he may have blown a nose gear tire on departure. At that time; rescue vehicles had been dispatched to inspect the runway for debris. The vehicles confirmed that there was debris on the runway including rubber and fiberglass. All of the debris was West of Runway 18. There were 4 rescue vehicles on 27 along with several maintenance vehicles. At one point; one of the two rescue fire trucks had cleared off the field at the perimeter road. After that had happened a Citabria had come in to land but had to go around due to a wind gust. While the Citabria was in left traffic for 18; a rescue vehicle called asking to proceed West on 27 to take photos. I believe the beginning of his transmission was cut off by another aircraft or vehicle. I thought that it was the rescue fire truck on the runway and told him to proceed as requested and to remain West of Runway 18 at all times. When I looked at the Citabria landing; I saw the rescue vehicle crossing Runway 18 behind the Citabria that had just landed. It was then that I had realized that the rescue vehicle must have come from the terminal ramp East of Runway 18. At no time was there a loss of separation but had the timing been different; there could have been. At the time of the incident; I had numerous vehicles and aircraft on multiple frequencies stepping on each other. Prior to the incident; I turned to the CIC and said; this is becoming too much; someone needs to open up Ground. I am unsure if the CIC heard my request. Within a few minutes after the incident; a Ground Controller was located and Ground was opened. Recommendation; it is easy to say what would have prevented this incident from occurring; being more aggressive in my call to open up ground.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.