In Quarters: Georgetown, TX, Firehouse No. 6

This facility received the Satellite Gold in the 2021 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here. 

Located in one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, Georgetown Firehouse No. 6 serves to improve emergency response time to the northwest side of the city of Georgetown. An excellent example of a coordinated effort between an emergency services district (ESD) and a municipality, Firehouse No. 6 was funded jointly by the city of Georgetown and Williamson County ESD No. 8.

The exterior façade is designed to reflect the surrounding residential neighborhood and features locally quarried Texas limestone, stained siding, sunshading devices and red four-fold apparatus bay doors.

The meeting room, which is accessed from the lobby, can be used by the ESD or other community members without interfering with the functions of the station. Also located in the lobby is a public restroom and a treatment room for walkup patients; the rest of the station beyond the lobby remains secure.

The physical and mental safety of first responders is of utmost importance in today’s firehouses. In addition to providing a separation between high-hazard and low-hazard zones for carcinogens via airlocks, the bunker gear room is located strategically on the second floor. While on duty, firefighters’ gear is kept by the trucks.

After a call or at the end of a shift, the gear is decontaminated in the EMS decontamination room. Once the gear is cleaned, a dumbwaiter in the EMS decontamination room allows the clean gear to be lifted easily to the second floor. It then is stored in the bunker gear room until the next shift.

Another unique safety feature that’s in this station is the dedicated storm shelter, which is designed to withstand 200-mph winds (three-second gust) and to act as an area of refuge for personnel during an emergency event.

Architect/Firm Name: Brown Reynolds Watford (BRW) Architects