Firefighters are a vital part of every community. They help in times of crisis and make their neighborhoods safe places for people to live. A fire station is a second home to many and needs to be well-equipped for people to get in and out quickly. Fire stations must be safe for firefighters to get to in an emergency, and these safety precautions have to start at the design of the station. If you are designing a fire station here are some of the essential building materials you need to use to maximize the safety of the building.
Fire Station Standards
Fire stations require inspections every year to determine if they are built up to code. Fire marshalls must make routine inspections of their firehouses. During inspection, they will determine if the fire station is adhering to all local building codes. The fire station must also meet OSHA safety standards. These standards are set by the U.S. Fire Administration. Many fire stations are quite old and may be missing modern safety requirements. During the inspection, a fire marshall will determine if it’s time to upgrade a fire station with the necessary changes to make sure it’s up to all safety codes.
You can learn more about fire station safety codes in this detailed article.
Once the fire marshall goes through the safety checklist, they’ll decide if upgrades must be made to the building. Materials throughout a fire station must be placed and stored in the right spots as well. So while there are minor adjustments that can be made, fire stations must address larger issues and fix their buildings.
Fire Station Design
A well-equipped fire station should have a couple of different areas for their workers to use. Most fire stations include the following five areas:
- Sleeping Areas
- Residential Areas
- Apparatus Bays
- Training Facilities
- Recreational Facilities
Each of these areas needs to be up to code for the health and safety of everyone who works in the fire station. Some common upgrades that are made in fire stations include enough beds for every on-duty member in the fire station. Sleeping quarters also need to have personal lockers for on-duty workers to store their belongings.
The training facilities, recreational facilities, and residential areas are places that can be more customized for each fire station. Residential facilities must include a kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchens must have commercial-grade appliances, grease filters for the stove and oven as well as designated food storage cabinets. Bathrooms must have non-slip mats and fully functioning plumbing systems.
The apparatus bay is where the most strict safety measures are implemented. This is where firefighters park trucks and lock up all of the equipment they’ll need in case of emergency.
Materials for Fire Station Safety
The apparatus bay requires certain materials to ensure safety during the event of an emergency. The apparatus bay is home to fire trucks, EMS vehicles, and equipment that workers will need on the scene of an emergency. The standard safety materials in apparatus bays include the following:
- Ventilation systems
- Non-slip flooring
- Pressure switched on self-closing doors
Ventilation systems are incredibly important for the health and safety of anyone in a fire station. Emergency vehicles create a lot of exhaust that can be harmful to the health of people in those spaces. Many fire stations are now designed with airlocks between the apparatus bay and other recreational and living quarters. This can help reduce long-term health hazards such as breathing problems or cancer.
Non-slip flooring is crucial to these spaces as well. On-duty workers may need to move quickly throughout the space getting their vehicles ready. Non-slip flooring ensures that no one will slip and fall when they are needed for an emergency. Non-slip flooring is a material that can’t be skimped on in the apparatus bay and should be upgraded in any fire station that may not already have it.
Apparatus bays house a lot of other materials like fire hoses and emergency medical equipment. Fire station design should keep this in mind and create an area where these are easily accessible. The storage of these items should be in easy-to-access lockers that keep them out of the way. But still easy to access to shorten the time it takes for workers to get on the road. Having the right materials in place in fire station design can help shorten the time it takes to get to an emergency and keep on-duty firefighters healthy.
Conclusion
Fire Station design is crucial to the health and safety of on-duty workers and those in the community who may experience emergencies. Using the right safety materials will ensure that firefighters can quickly and efficiently get to the scene of an emergency. It also ensures that the health and wellness of workers are taken into account so they can have long and happy careers in emergency services.