Before a department breaks ground on a new fire station, it should look at the facilities being built by other departments around the country. What are they specifying? Why did they select a floor plan or finish? How do they feel about their choices now that firefighters are operating from the station?

Fire Station No. 376
Oro Valley, Ariz.

Breckenridge Group Architects/Planners was contracted to design Fire Station No. 376 as part of Golder Ranch Fire District’s 2004 bond. This six-bed station has 7,202 square feet with three apparatus bays. Completed in August 2008, the station cost approximately $2.3 million and includes a kitchen/dining/day room area, exercise room and office. A ceramic mural runs along the building’s front exterior wall.

Due to the difficulty with a particularly hilly project site, special design effort and coordination was required. Additionally, the adjacent homeowners required special building height, lighting and color restrictions to be incorporated. The facility is a combination of masonry and metal stud/EIFS construction.

Fire Station 84
Los Angeles

Serving the southwest San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Fire Department's Fire Station 84 replaces a cramped and inefficient 59-year-old building deemed deficient in seismic safety, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing, building code, ADA and separate gender accommodations. The new, $16.1 million station sits on two acres of land and consists of a 15,250-square-foot station house, a 6,000-square-foot apparatus storage facility and a 2,500-square-foot multipurpose room. The new station is expected to serve as an operational base for the LAFD's Support Service Volunteer Program.

The former fire station was only 3,230 square feet and was designed to house no more than four male firefighters and one limited-role (now antique) fire apparatus. The addition of firefighter/paramedics and mixed-gender crews in recent years brought the challenge of housing at least six men and women per shift in cramped quarters and the need to park the paramedic ambulance outdoors.

The energy efficient, seven-bay facility includes an important drive-through feature that prevents the need to block traffic on Burbank Boulevard when rehousing vehicles..