Every fire station is different, from size and style to atmosphere and culture to simple aesthetics and design. But there is one thing all chiefs can agree on, and that is the importance of making each station a comfortable home away from home for all of the men and women serving under them. Regardless of the size of stations or budgets, there are a number of trends in station furniture purchasing nationwide.

In today's troubled economy, the most prevalent concern for all departments is budget. According to Keith Voigt, president of Furniture Concepts in Warrensville, Ohio, nine months to one year ago departments were purchasing more expensive, upscale furniture. “Before that,” Voigt says, “as long as everything was functionally adequate, it met the basic criteria.”

He recalls how a coworker took a tour of a new station in his community, and was surprised to see very nice, very pricey furniture being used. He asked the chief what the department paid, and found that had they purchased traditional, less upscale furniture, the cost would have been reduced by approximatley 50%.

Now, however, departments don't have the option of spending more on luxury furniture. “As things have tightened up,” Voigt says, “people are going back to basics and doing the bare minimum.”

Andy Barth, vice president of contract sales for All A Board in Richmond, Va., points out that furniture, unlike PPE or gasoline, is more a luxury item, so it often is the first place budgets are cut when money is tight.

Some chiefs have found ways to squeeze more from their budgets. “When we were purchasing for our newest station, we looked for joint purchasing agreements and collective bidding processes that helped us leverage our purchasing with a lot of the major manufacturers,” says Asst. Chief Steve Howard of the Waukesha (Wis.) Fire Department. That helped us save considerably so we were able to buy furniture that we wouldn't have been able to [otherwise].”

The Elgin (Ill.) Fire Department took matters into its own hands. Asst. Chief Mike Baker says that its important to get the best value not only for the department but for the city that is funding the budget. Fire departments should not be afraid to re-bid if they don't get the value they want or expect. This is something Elgin has done before. “We've re-bid for equipment and furniture because either we didn't get sufficient bids with a good cross-section of pricing or we felt we could have done better on the pricing based on our own research,” he says.

Voigt says one way to have the furniture you want while still saving money is to replace portions of the furniture — such as cushions or cushion covers — instead of buying a brand-new piece. “We've had some clients order mattress covers instead of mattresses,” he says. “They'll order one piece of furniture — such as a nightstand, a chest or an end table — rather than an entire room. Recliners, of course, are a big item with fire stations, and more are asking for replacement recliner mechanisms. With recliners, it's never a question of will the mechanism break, but when.”

Another point everyone agrees on is that durability is paramount. “The firehouse is like a frat house,” says Barth. “If they buy retail furniture they'll only get three years out of it. They need to go with contract furniture. They'll save money two or three times over the life of the furniture spending a little more up front. Departments should buy things constructed to last.”

This is a point that Voigt agrees with, saying, “People are more aware of the functionality of the furniture rather than the aesthetics.”

“Obviously, with quality you want something nice looking that fits the space that is aesthetically pleasing,” says Howard, “but functionality is key.”

To that end, Baker says more chiefs are buying recliners and couches made with fabrics that are sturdy and easily decontaminated, such as leather or a synthetic material. Howard says that the Waukesha Fire Department opted for similar fabrics on its recliners, stressing leather's durability under repeated cleanings and use. “Recliners are the trend,” he says. “When we designed our station, we had a work group of different ranks and users of different areas of the building, and hands-down, the firefighters expressed a desire for more recliners.”

Bedrooms are the area, however, leading most trends. And according to Michael Lee, owner of Grennen's Murphy Beds in Campbell, Calif., this is because of the dichotomy between fire chiefs managing the budgets and architects. “I've seen a trend toward more segregated rooms for personnel,” he says. “Architects are very proud of that design, but it increases the square footage tremendously in the station. Each room needs individual lighting, heating and air conditioning, and doors, and the costs go up dramatically, which is in direct conflict with the chiefs who are managing the budget. They're opting back to one or two individual rooms so if they do have female staff they can put them in an individual room. But on the whole, they're going for dorm-style where all firefighters are in the same room but personalizing it with individual beds and lockers.”

Barth agrees, saying, “When they are able to have room, the sleeping quarters is becoming a more important area of the station as a whole.” And because of that, he adds, creating storage spaces with a small footprint is one of the biggest trends he's seeing. “It's hard to have a bed and a chest of drawers and a nightstand, which means having drawer or storage space under the bed that is easily accessible. The ones being built now, they try to give firefighters more usable space. They try to give them a full-size bed and more storage. Firefighters are tired of living out of 6-inch metal lockers, so larger lockers are becoming a big deal, where firefighters can put in a few days' worth of clothing along with their gear.”

Finding affordable, durable furniture doesn't mean ignoring aesthetics or the look and feel firefighters want, however. Barth says, “[Fire chiefs] aren't afraid to buy a nicer mattress. If firefighters are going to live there, they need a nicer mattress at work, like the one they have at home. They're not buying the cheapest thing in town and having miserable firefighters for five years.”

Baker adds that when departments begin the process of choosing and purchasing furniture, it's important to think about what's right for the culture of the fire station. “The actually purchasing is pretty much a set procedure; anyone can buy anything,” he says. “It's all the stuff that leads up to it.”

He reccommends asking the department's firefighters for their input and communicating the reasons behind the final decision. They will be the ones using the furniture, so this is a critical step, he says. They need to realize what decisions are being made and why, whether it's an NFPA standard or city preference. “We put together a design committee of firefighters. They put together the interior colors and finishes, including the furniture we're going to buy. Ultimately, they're the ones that have to live there, and it's important that they have input into that.”