In late April, FIRE CHIEF hosted its third Station Style Design conference in Phoenix. It included two station tours, a golf scramble, pre-conference workshop and panel discussion and two days of expert speakers.<

Phoenix Fire Department Executive Asst. Chief Steve Kreis opened the conference saying, “Probably some of the most expensive things we do in the fire service, we entrust to you. You deal with codes and NFPA standards and those requirements are clearly a challenge. We live where we work and it needs to be a work place and serve that particular purpose. Yet it needs to be comfortable to live in also.”

Phoenix Deputy Chief Ken C. Leake and Project Manager Jim Zwerg followed Kreis with an “Overview of Station Design” the Phoenix Way. Leake stressed the importance of community involvement in the design of a fire station. Station 57, which conference attendees toured on Sunday afternoon, is surrounded by an equestrian trail.

“During the design of Station 57, the community wanted a railing in front of the station,” Leake said. Later, when Leake stopped by the new station, he saw a horse tied to the railing while the owner was inside the fire station.

Community rooms in each fire station are available for public use by calling a central scheduling office at Phoenix Fire Department. “We walked in one time and found sewing machines set up in the room,” Leake said. “The local quilting club was using the room.”

Leake said that in the past they built the biggest station possible. Now, with tightening finances, they try to anticipate the community’s needs 25 years out and build to that need.

“When we buy a piece of land, we’re mini developers,” Leake said.

Mary McGrath of Beverly Prior Architects, presented “Operations-Based Design in a Sustainable World,” focused on the importance of learning to work with an architect.

“The most successful station we find is based on the architects’ understanding of what you do,” she said. “A discussion of how you work and what you do will help guide your architect.”

She also urged chiefs to look for building materials available within 50 to 200 miles of the station. These, she said, naturally will be more environmentally friendly because of the reduced transportation costs.

Many departments are looking to get Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. Paul Erickson and Lynn Reda from LeMay Erickson Architects talked about the different levels of certification and what departments can do to reach those plateaus. Gold and platinum levels of LEED will require a large outlay of money, but the silver level is easy for fire and rescue departments to reach, Erickson said. Reda cautioned against being too eager to accept land donations, as it often contains hidden environmental problems that could hinder LEED-certification efforts.

Dave Fergus of Rice, Fergus, Miller Architecture and Planning said that fire stations cost more per square foot than any other building. Two ways to keep a handle on the cost, he said, is to hire a professional estimator and to require the architect to provide a budget with hard costs, soft costs and contingency costs.

“It’s almost always less expensive to go out than up,” said Ken Newell of Stewart Cooper Newell. Newell discussed ways for departments to control costs when designing and building a new station. “American Disability Acts requires elevators to second floors, and that adds between $125 to $225,000.”

Rick Tripp of MSA and Michael Hinnenkamp of ICMA warned that the slowing economy, voter tax fatigue and worker shortages conspired to create a perfect storm; one that would hinder new station building. One option, they said, is to consider mixed-use facilities. Tripp said that it was critical to find the right partner if a fire department planned to build such a facility, even if that partner was a nongovernmental entity.

The Station Style Conference was focused specifically on designing and building fire and emergency service facilities. But one program turned out to be the most talked about program of the conference. Deputy Chief Ed Nied of the Tucson (Ariz.) Fire Department and Kelly A. Reynolds of the University of Arizona College of Public Health reported the results of their research on where and how MRSA lives in fire stations.

Furniture manufacturer Bulldogg Tuff Comfort introduced the small, stuffed Bulldogg tuff pup; sales went to the National Fallen FireFighters Foundation. Byron Epp, of Door Engineering, bought the remaining pups to ensure Bulldogg met its goal of $3,000.