When selecting the judges for the Station Style Design Awards, we try to find fire chiefs or officers who have hands-on experience in designing fire stations. We also include architects from different geographical areas. This year’s judges included three fire-department personnel who also have experience in architecture and engineering.

And the judges — first time and returning — could all agree on one thing: the competition was tough this year.

The first design awards in 2000 had 23 entries in four categories; this year’s program had 87 entries in six categories. Judges reviewed each entry on their own before meeting with the other judges. Each brought his or her top three choices in each category to the final judging. Discussions were intense as the choices were whittled down to gold, silver and bronze — or none at all.

Returning judges had noticed significant changes in this year’s entries:

• “More training within the stations.” And another quickly added, “So much so that I expect it now.”

• “Many of our clients are volunteers, and their training facility is 50 miles away. They hold their breath when anyone sends them away for training. It’s a lot easier to bring in one instructor to teach rather than send off your firefighters.”

• “Functionality is the key in the fire station.”

• “Operations comes first.”

• “LEED is expected in all architecture. It’s soon approaching the code level would be sustainability. A lot of cities are funding LEEDs buildings.”

One seasoned judge explained the initial criteria for each entry. “The first thing we look at if it is operationally sound. You can have good design with a small amount of money or a large amount of money.”

Another judged added, “I don’t think square foot cost has a big impact on my decision. You look at it and say it’s an expense.”

“Far more important is matching the client’s budget than what it is and more important what is it for that community.”

Sometimes I wish we recorded the eight-hour judging process. The discussions and arguments about various aspects of facilities, locations and creativity are valuable lessons. The pros and cons from everything aspect of a facility from the drive-through bays to location of decontamination rooms are learning opportunities.

Watch for the November issue and see if you agree with the 2009 Station Style judges.

Wilson (N.C.) Fire/Rescue always is on the cutting edge of new technology, being an early adopter of GIS, GPS and mapping systems. With a visionary leader like Chief Don Oliver, the department was bound to be progressive.

In early 2006, the department found a unique opportunity. A 1,024-square-foot duplex on a 60-foot by 60-foot lot adjacent to the department headquarters had become available for purchase. Oliver discussed with his staff the options and how the property might best be used. They decided to convert the property into a community fire and life-safety center.

In 2007, Wilson Fire/Rescue secured an Assistance to Firefighters Grant for $184,000 to develop the Fire & Life-Safety Adventure House. Local donations totaling in excess of $35,000 — nearly double the required 10% local match required by the FIRE Grant — helped the department build a state-of-the art-facility focused on public education for the city and the greater Wilson area.

“Located directly across from the Wilson Boys & Girls Club, the vision is to produce a facility that will address many of the cutting-edge life safety issues that impact our citizens and community,” Oliver said. “We predict that this state-of-the-art facility will draw many visiting groups from throughout eastern North Carolina with the innovative educational packages which we will present.”

The Fire & Life Safety Adventure House http://wilsonnc.org/departments/firerescue officially opens next week.

The new public-education center is designed to cater to its multi-national community, with printed and spoken word available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic.

“We’ve converted everything to those languages — printed word and sound,” Oliver said. “We have developed eight learning stations so that kids can learn at their own speed.”

The city of Wilson has 13 schools, and the fire department has scheduled time for each second-grade class — 53 in all — to spend time in the center.

The handicap accessible center features individual rooms including bedrooms, a kitchen including a stairwell set up with hazards (toys) on the stairs.

“The kids learn the dangers of tripping on items left on the stairs,” Oliver said. “Each group that we take through the building has an opportunity to learn about not only fire, but safety issues in the home.”

Oliver saw another benefit to this facility recently when 35 members of the local homebuilders’ association toured the facility.

“We [set off] the sprinkler booth off, brought the builders into the fire station, fed them dinner and took them throughout the new life safety center,” Oliver said. “The national homebuilders are against residential sprinklers, but we found a new understanding among this group when we explained how we could work together.”

The application period for the Assistance to Firefighters Fire Station Construction Grants closed last week, and the wait to see how the $210 million will be allocated begins. I’m anxious to see how many departments submitted applications and how they breakdown between new stations and renovations. I suspect FEMA will be in for a surprise when sees how many departments are in need of assistance.

Several architects I talked to were slammed with helping fire departments submit grant applications. A few chiefs of small departments e-mailed to ask me whether it was worth asking for small sums — $225,000 — and I encouraged them to submit. I think the best step FEMA took was capping the grants at $5 million per station, which hopefully will let more volunteer departments share in the $210 million.

I also had an interesting conversation with Don Dommer, a registered architect for 41 years. In that time, he has seen a lot of changes in the fire service and public-services architecture.

Dommer told me that between the end of World War II and the late seventies, fire departments tended to build structures that were simply functional and sufficient. Many of the buildings that were built in that time period now not only are outdated, but aren’t functional for the fire departments’ expanded responsibilities.

“In the late eighties, the buildings were not much better,” Dommer said. “The fire service has evolved and is much more sophisticated about the issues of structural upgrades, gender issues, turnout gear in the bay areas and so on.”

Even in the past 10 years of the Station Style design awards, I have seen significant changes in station floor plans, exterior designs and requirements. Yet the renovation category receives the fewest entries year after year. And Dommer said his firm has not had contracts for many station renovations since the early part of this decade. “We have one now and I worked on three federal stimulus grant applications for six or seven stations; three were renovations,” he said.

What percentage of the grant dollars will go to renovations rather than new fire stations? I look forward to finding out.

In the nearly 10 years that since we launched Station Style, I’ve learned a few things about architects. I believe that architects and apparatus manufacturers have a lot in common. Both like challenging and unique projects. Both can wow you with designs they are fiercely proud of. And both need to be reminded of budgets.

I could come up with a much longer list, especially because fire stations and fire apparatus are big, long-term investments for a department.

Fire station design and construction has gained prominence in those years because of several significant trends in the emergency services profession as a whole. Exhaust removal systems and fitness rooms become standard in new fire stations, as have male and female toilet and shower facilities. Training options are being designed in to stations, as are separate areas for decon and laundry facilities. The next 10 years will see the incorporation of safe zones and micro-bacterial fabrics to restrict the spread infectious diseases.

During the call for presentations for the 2009 Station Style Conference, many architects responded with an array of topics involving the basics of designing a fire station. While basic, key programs are important, I always look for unique, useful programs and suggestions from previous attendees.

This year, we wanted a program on material selection for walls, floors, doors and the like. Candice Wong, AIA, LEED AP, RRM Design Group, really wanted to give a presentation that would tap her creativity and expertise, but agreed to take on the material selection program. She tapped Jim McClure, the San Jose Fire Department’s facilities captain, to help with her presentation.

Guess who got top marks for their educational presentation at the 2009 Station Style Conference. Wong’s handout was deemed “best of show.” E-mail Wong for a copy of the handout.

Don Mobley was one of the featured speakers at last week’s Illinois Fire Service Home Day. A former chief in Illinois, Mobley now is the Region 5 fire program specialist for the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mobley spoke to congressional staffers, manufacturers and fire-service personnel about the Assistance to Firefighters Grants and newly created Fire Station Construction Grant Program, which is part of the 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate will administer the program in coordination with the U.S. Fire Administration.

According to Mobley, $210 million is available for the one-time FSC grant offering. The application period is open now through July 10. As with all agency grants, FEMA offers a Guidance and Application Kit. FEMA anticipates between 5,000 and 10,000 grant applications for approximately 100 awards. There also will be a maximum of $5 million per project and no more than $15 million to one community.

The competitive FSC grant program will provide financial assistance to build new or modify existing fire stations to improve response capabilities. Priority will be given to replacement of unsafe or uninhabitable buildings, and applicants may be required to provide documentation regarding the nature of the health or safety deficiencies.

Priority also will be given to projects that expand fire-protection coverage in compliance with NFPA 1710 or 1720 or those that modify or expand existing structures to provide sleeping quarters for full-time occupancy.

Additional consideration will be given to projects designed and built to meet current ICC codes and NFPA standards, which include sprinklers, exhaust extraction and detection systems. The lowest priority will be for projects to replace or expand habitable structures that are cramped or configured inefficiently.

The FSC grants don’t require a cost-share, and preference will be given to projects that can be started almost immediately. Such projects will have land and utilities already available and have approved zoning and — to the maximum extent — green initiatives.

Details and an applicant tutorial can be found at firegrantsupport.com

While we’re on the subject of federal grant dollars, the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee approved a draft 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill that would fund the 2010 FIRE and SAFER grant programs and the USFA.

The subcommittee reduced FIRE Grants by $380 million (33%) from the FY 2009 level of $565 million. SAFER Grants, however, were doubled from $210 million to $420 million for FY 2010. This is a reversal from the past eight years, where FIRE Grants were more heavily funded than SAFER grants. But as the fire service continues faces layoffs and station closures, perhaps supporting SAFER is the brotherly thing to do.

I’ve always cautioned that relying on federal dollars to fund fire departments is dangerous, and that couldn’t be truer than it is right now. The application requests have always far exceeded the dollars available. The funds could flow in a different direction or stop all together in another fiscal year.

The pre-conference program, “Incident Command Approach to Fire Station Design,” at the 2009 Station Style Conference brought together four architecture firms from across the country to share insights on beginning a fire station design.

Presenters included Dennis Ross, AIA, and David Pacheco, AIA, Pacheco Ross Architects, PC; Mary McGrath, AIA, Beverly Prior Architects; Brian Harris, AIA, and Eric Schaer, AIA, TCA Architecture Planning; and Lynn Reda, AIA, and Paul Erickson, AIA, LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects.

The team found parallels between fire station and the Incident Command System. Perhaps the single most important message from the architects was to start planning early and communicate effectively.

“Your station is every bit as complex and difficult as a major incident,” Pacheco said. “Firefighters don’t rush into a burning building without a coordinated plan of attack or the necessary expertise, so why approach facility design any differently?”

The team developed “10 Building Design Rules of Thumb” for fire stations. Among the rules are:

• Design so the path of travel to bays is direct.
  
• Locate spaces based on operational protocol.
  
• Identify clear demarcation between public and private spaces and security.
  
• Plan for future expansion in the design.
  

Presenters also discussed sustainable goals during budgeting, programming and site selection.

This year’s Incident Command Approach pre-conference program ended with one-on-one meetings with the team’s architects. One chief from Alaska exclaimed, “I can’t wait to go back and show the department the drawings I have from my meeting with the architect!”

I just returned from FIRE CHIEF’s fourth annual Station Style Conference. This year, presentations ranged from finding the right concept to choosing construction materials to remodeling and erecting interim facilities.

One highlight was the panel discussion, “Experience Speaks,” moderated by Abbe Berns, assistant director of fire services for Ventura County, Calif. Fire chiefs and architects engaged in a lively discussion of lessons learned while building multiple emergency response facilities.

Johnny Fong, an architect and engineer for Reno (Nev.) Fire Department, started at the beginning of a project, addressing site-selection concerns. “Site selection might be the most difficult step for a department,” he said. Many times it’s out of your hands and you get what you’re given.”

Chief Mark Wallace of the McKinney (Texas) Fire Department took site selection a step further. “We’re going from open land for site selection, but need to look at what’s going to be developed down the road,” he said. “Free land is not necessarily free.”

The panelists also discussed the idea of an owner’s representative. “Who does the project management on a project? Do you use the architect or do you use a third party to watch out for your interests” Berns asked. She suggested an independent management firm to review the drawings and ensure value engineering and said that she stipulates in her contracts that she owns the drawings.

Wallace explained that McKinney’s owner’s rep is a third-party architect/civil engineer and works for the city manager and is tasked with watching out for “project creep.” “Our construction manager has saved three times the cost of the construction by going through the specifications,” he said.

Panelists agreed that hiring a construction manager makes a lot of sense and to hire one as early as possible in the process.

At the end of the day, the success of a fire station construction project depends on personalities and honesty the panelists agreed. Interviewing architects was a crucial step, early in the process.

Fong cautioned architects who are new to designing fire stations to be honest about that. “If you are not a fire station expert, don’t advertise yourself as one,” he said. “Hire a consultant who is experienced in fire stations. Just because you are an architect doesn’t mean you can build any type of building.”

Besides personality, panelists suggested asking an architect what conferences they attend and find out if they are familiar with the new technology and equipment as fire departments evolve. Are architects aware of the need for areas for decontamination and area access to apparatus?

Ed Mishefske, a retired fire chief who is on staff at SEH Architects, cautioned departments to pay attention to the placement of driveways at fire stations. “We try to get in before the site selection and give chiefs an idea of what response time is all about,” he said. “You don’t want volunteers coming in where fire trucks are going out.”

“Fire chiefs are pretty pragmatic,” said Mishefske. “If something goes wrong, tell them right away, don’t cover it up.”

When do you take the first serious step toward a building project? Is it when you reach for a blank piece of paper to list needs versus wants or sketch the floor plan? Is it when you pick up the phone to call the banker or the architect? Whatever the step, now might be the time to take it.

Suppliers are reducing the costs of labor and materials because of the fledgling economy, and with stimulus funds dedicated to fire station construction, taking steps to become shovel ready may prove economical in the long run.

At last year’s Station Style Conference in Phoenix, architect/presenters surveyed attendees on their top concerns for an incident-command approach to station design. Budget, funding versus need, and planning for future growth topped the list, which also included continuing operations during demolition and reconstruction.

But before you begin your next project, be aware of emerging trends:

Station lifespan. Many agencies are building temporary (10- to 20-year) structures instead of longer-term (over 30 years) structures, according to Mary McGrath, AIA, Beverly Prior Architects.

Cleaner stations. Designers are incorporating safe zones to limit exposure to contaminated turnout gear and other infection-control methods.

Greener stations. Recycled grey water, solar panels, geothermal pumps and smart-building technology can save money in the long run if designed into new construction.

It’s also important to be aware of NFPA standards that relate to fire station construction, as well as HIPA, ADA, OSHA and FEMA codes.

Is trial-and-error the best way to build your next station? The 2009 Station Style Conference will offer attendees the opportunity to spend time with design professionals experienced fire department personnel one on one. Come learn and network with the top resources in the country.

Last year, I had an interesting conversation with FIRE CHIEF columnist Chief Ron Coleman about building volunteer fire stations. Coleman had just completed a consulting project to determine the minimum a volunteer department would need to effectively and safely operate for volunteer departments in northern California.

In addition to his consulting, Coleman is also with California’s Statewide Training Advisory Committee and has an obligation to make sure their training programs are adequate. Over the last five years, Coleman has either visited or been engaged with chief officers from more than 500 volunteer fire departments. He has visited fire stations made of everything from bales of hay to pole barns to high-tech facilities.

Coleman and Rick Tripp, AIA, NCARB, have developed a program for the 2009 Station Style pre-conference program specifically for volunteer fire departments and departments on tight budgets.

Tripp, a principal with MSA, has a great deal of experience working with fire departments that transitioned from part time to full time.

“Our firm has worked with over 25 departments assisting them with strategic planning and implementing a facilities master plan,” said Tripp. “From our experience, this involves a strategic approach towards staffing/manpower, response times/ number of calls for service, station locations etc and finally an approach towards funding these operations.”

Coleman and Tripp’s presentation will help fire departments identify their service needs and how these needs can be accommodated with a process they call the “Typology of Volunteer Departments.” This typology or standardization process will assist the volunteer department in understanding how to approach the building design process and how the building can be used to enhance a department’s services to a community.

A new standardization process will also be discussed within the larger context on how a national program is being developed to assist volunteer departments design and construct buildings complying with local governing requirements. The process is designed to assist local communities to consider grant programs for their facility needs.

Don’t miss Coleman and Tripp at the 2009 Station Style Conference, Sunday, May 3. www.firechief.com/stationstyleconference.conferenceregistration

My contacts in Washington, D.C., surprised me with their same refrain to questions about President Barack Obama’s $787 billion recovery package: “We don’t know yet.”

The stimulus package includes $515 million for reduction of wildfire threats, including the removal of hazardous fuels on public lands; $250 million for state and local volunteer programs and hazardous fuels-reduction efforts, which states have determined are the highest priority; $250 million for urgently needed hazard reduction on federal lands; and $15 million for hazardous fuels reduction through the Bureau of Land Management.

The stimulus package also eliminates local governments’ requirement to match FY 2009 and FY 2010 funds for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants.

The $210 million for renovation, addition or construction of non-federal fire stations, with a maximum grant of $15 million and up to 5% of the funds also may be used for grant administration.

This is particularly good news for fire departments that can take advantage of the economic opportunities currently available in construction.

“Now is an excellent time to build,” said Brian Harris, AIA, LEED AP, of Seattle’s TCA Architecture Planning. “The timing is good because construction costs are deeply discounted — 25% — and what’s driving that is labor costs and common items such as wood, concrete have really come down and ready-made products are fairly stable.”

Harris added, “My sense is that there’s money there, but given the cost of facilities and spread across the country, how far will that money go.”

According to Bill Webb, director of the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the release of the stimulus bill is a good time to be in contact with your Congressional leaders. Find your representative here.

Make sure you’re on your representatives’ radar screen by sending them a letter inviting them to join the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. If they already belong to the Fire Caucus, thank them for being part of the largest caucus in Washington, D.C. Samples of an invitation and a thank you letter can be found on the CFSI Web site.

For the straight talk on how the stimulus package will impact you and your department, attend the Congressional Fire Services Institute’s 21st Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Seminar and Dinner, April 1–2.

Whether it’s $500 million to clear out brush to prevent wildfires or $210 million for fire stations, these big numbers really frighten me. Most fire departments have needs — not wants — and these needs would be met for less than $1 million a piece. The disbursement of this much money needs to be monitored carefully and cautiously.

Who will handle the distribution and how will they do it? I’m concerned. But then again, I’m from Illinois, and we’ve learned not to trust many people in state government. I bet federal government is different.