Last year was difficult for many fire departments with the pandemic, public unrest, and staffing. We heard the concerns about budgets for fire departments, EMS, law enforcement, and all public safety agencies. We expected budgets would be hit hard and new fire stations or other construction would be postponed.
But we were wrong. Despite rising costs in construction and materials, architects and construction companies are busier than ever designing and building new public safety facilities. Increased demands on each public safety sector were felt in parallel to increased efforts at preventing COVID infection.
Older fire stations already have restricted space, and finding room for decontamination procedures, additional showers, and cleaning equipment and supplies was already complex through anti-carcinogen efforts, but COVID added another layer of precautions. The Hot Zone Design concept introduced several years ago was about designating red, yellow, and green areas of a station that ranged from contaminated to transitional to clean living areas.
In a timely move, the National Volunteer Fire Council announced that U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Mike Bost (R-IL), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) have introduced legislation (H.R. 3728) that would authorize a one-time, $1 billion appropriation to fund construction and refurbishment of fire and EMS stations. NVFC encouraged fire departments to contact their U.S. Representative and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 3728.
Besides design and construction programs, the Firehouse 2021 Station Design Conference from Aug. 24-26 at the Hilton at the Ballpark in St. Louis will feature presentations on trends and innovations in health and security in fire, police, and public safety buildings.
Station Design Award winning architects Christopher Kehde and Katie Atwater with LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects will share updates on the principles of designing Hot Zone Design transitions. According to Kehde and Atwater, contamination design must be customized to meet each department’s health and safety goals, operations, and staffing. Design of the three zones is a critical part of controlling and containing contaminant exposure.
Public unrest last year and beginning this year resulted in Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) coordinating with fire, EMS, and law enforcement to respond to public incidents. Most EOCs are activated for severe weather, protests, terrorists, and planned events. Retired Atlanta Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Richard Heard and Candace Wong, a specialist in public safety facilities, will give a talk focused on how EOC’s and public safety facilities can be designed to facilitate emergency protocols, operations and stage essential equipment and supplies for EOC activations.
Whether you are still in planning or in construction on a new fire station or facility, arm yourself with education and as much knowledge about the latest in facility design as you can. The 2021 Station Design Conference can help you.
Three years ago, Roberta Baker, vice president of the St. Leonard (MD) Volunteer Fire Department, and five of its members attended the 2018 Station Design Conference in Fort Worth, TX. At that time, the department was working on funds for a new station and designs. Baker felt the conference was an excellent place to start identifying the department and building needs.
“The [Station Design] conference was extremely informative and well-coordinated,” said Baker. “It was quite easy to stay engaged and focus on the materials and presentations throughout the entire conference.”
Baker and department attendees signed up for the 1-on-One pre-conference organized by a team of award-winning architects. The 1-on-One allowed Baker and the team to meet with an architect who specialized in fire and public safety facilities and could offer objective suggestions and improvements to the fire department’s plans.
This year the funding for construction for St. Leonard Volunteer Fire Department’s fire station is near its target, and Baker is sending six additional members from their New Building Committee. “We want to make sure we construct the best building that will meet our needs for years to come,” she said.
The St. Leonard group is registered again for the 1-on-One pre-conference program. “We found this meeting to be exceptionally helpful to help identify our building needs,” said Baker. “Thank you for assembling such a great program that not only helps the fire departments plan for their building, but a program that includes fiscal guidance.”
We work hard to make sure attendees receive the information and support needed to design and build an effective facility for their department and community. We also offer exhibiting companies with seasoned experience to network and serve as resources for attendees’ projects.
We promise, you won’t be disappointed in the content of the 2021 Station Design Conference.
Janet A. Wilmoth | Special Projects Director
Janet Wilmoth grew up in a family of firefighters in a suburb of Chicago. Wilmoth, who is owner of Wilmoth Associates, worked with Fire Chief magazine for 27 years until it closed in 2013. She currently is the project director for Firehouse, overseeing the Station Design Conference.
