In Quarters: Port of Long Beach, CA, Fire Boat Station 15

This facility received a Career 1 Notable Award in the 2022 Firehouse Station Design Awards. Find the full list of winners here. 

COAR Design Group was retained by the Port of Long Beach for the design of a new Fire Boat Station 15 project. The result of the cooperative work by the Port, the city of Long Beach Fire Department and Harbor Patrol, this LEED Gold Certified facility accommodates both landside and waterside fire response capabilities. The fireboat station is a replacement for an existing, undersized station and was designed to accommodate two landside fire apparatus as well as a new 108-foot-long fireboat. Key features of the facility include advanced communications technology, a workshop where crews can maintain and repair gear, a conference room, a data room, office space, modern living quarters for a six-member team, a kitchen and dining room, a fitness room, a turnout storage and shop area. and appropriate decontamination and utility space to support the landside operations.

The boat bay, which reaches more than 52 feet above the water’s surface, shelters Vigilance, which is one of the Port’s state-of-the-art fireboats, from the elements when it isn’t in use. The covered dock’s equipment includes an overhead crane to perform machinery maintenance on the fireboat and to load necessary firefighting materials and equipment; a deionizing system to remove sea salt deposits that can slow the vessel’s speed and corrode the hull; a dive locker; and its own maintenance and repair room.

Personnel and Port safety were paramount throughout the design process. Personnel now have a division of clean and dirty zones within the station. The station floor plan reduces response times by centralizing the apparatus bay entrance, which is easily accessible from anywhere in the station and provides direct access to the adjacent boat bay.

Architect/Firm Name: COAR Design Group