By Alan M. Petrillo
Perlman Architects of Arizona rose to the occasion to design and build two of the newest Tucson (AZ) fire stations. The challenge? Two different designs with two vastly different site locations.
Tucson Fire has 22 stations staffed by 645 paid firefighters covering 227 square miles and a population of 550,000, running its highest year ever for calls in 2022, at 101,963. “Our old fire stations 8 and 9 were extremely old buildings,” says Paul Moore, Tucson Fire’s deputy chief for capital projects. “Neither had any modern features for firefighter health and safety, no individual dorm rooms, and old HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) systems.”
Station 8’s fitness room is located on an exterior wall that allows for clerestory windows to provide natural lighting.
Moore points out that Tucson Fire needed to expand the size of both stations due to increased call volumes, and the need to protect firefighters from diesel particulate contamination in the apparatus bays, as well as needing decon rooms for turnout gear and equipment, and transition spaces between the apparatus bays and firefighter living areas, typically known as the red, yellow and green zones. Tucson Fire also wanted zoned dispatch for individual dorm rooms in its new stations. Moore adds that both new Station 8 and 9 have badge access restrictions to the entire site, and security cameras on the exterior spaces.
The kitchen and dining area in Tucson Fire Station 8.
Gerrald Adams, architect at Perlman Architects of Arizona, says Tucson Fire “is one of the more progressive fire departments when it comes to mitigation of contaminates in its stations. Fire Station 8 is a 13,914-square-foot single-story station with four drive-through apparatus bays, (two double-deep and two single deep), 13 gender neutral dorms, four gender neutral bathrooms, a fitness room, training room, firefighter and police offices, an exterior decon shower, decon and equipment room, turnout gear room, dayroom/kitchen/dining area, and support spaces.”
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