“Why are you so passionate about fire stations?” one of the judges asked me that after the judging of the 2015 Station Design Awards.
Passionate? Me? Since 2001 when I was involved with the first fire station award program at another fire magazine it has been interesting to see how each fire department would design a station for the community they served. There are so many variables from type of department, location and the incidents and possible hazards in the area in which they respond.
But there’s another reason too. I watched my dad’s department grow from all volunteer in a four-bay garage to a career department with multiple stations over the course of 30 years. I attended openings for the second station on the south end of the township and eventually a third and fourth station. When station five was proposed, my brother was responsible for helping with the station design that would include an apparatus maintenance shop, as well as offices and a living area.
In the first station awards in 2001, not many of the stations had designated areas for physical fitness, which was still an emerging trend. Most stations would put weights and benches in the apparatus bay or a basketball hoop outside on the back of the station. By 2009, fitness rooms were in every new fire station. Volunteer departments would offer the fitness room to families as a perk for volunteering. Backing-up accidents spurred the increase in drive-through bays on floor plans. Fire poles slowly disappeared from new stations because of injuries, however we recently saw a couple of poles from second floors again. We thought slides might take the place of poles, but feet-first into a wall isn’t the answer either.
Laundry rooms have seen changes not only in size, but location. Large industrial equipment for washing gear is being located next to apparatus bays and turnout gear rooms, while laundry machines for washing station wear or bedding are located closer to offices and living areas.
Last year was particularly significant because every fire station submitted in the 2015 Station Design Awards stated it had fire sprinklers in the building. However, we did learn one was cut because of budget.
The biggest trend that I see coming to fire station design right now is how the research on firefighter health is driving changes to fire station floor plans. Dividing a fire station by zones—Red, Green and Yellow—correlates with areas that are contaminated by exposure to carcinogens and toxins, whether airborne or on contact, and keeping them away from living areas in the station. Off-gassing of turnout gear was unheard of 30 years ago, but petroleum-based products weren’t as prevalent in house fires back then. One architect questioned holding clam bakes or hosting voter polling places in the apparatus bays, thereby exposing the public to contaminants of the gear and equipment.
Fifteen years ago, chiefs thought having a designated room for physical fitness was a superfluous luxury. As we have learned, physical fitness is critical to the job of firefighting. As is hydration and rehab at fires and incidents. And post-traumatic stress debriefing, washing your hoods weekly and not washing station wear with the family laundry.
And there is still so much more to learn about keeping fire and EMS personnel healthy and safe, not only on scene at incidents, but inside the fire station as well.
