Filled with natural light and optimized for scenic views, Seattle Fire Station 32 is set in the heart of the neighborhood at the threshold between single-family residential areas and a denser commercial zone. To mitigate the site’s small size, the architects built upward, resulting in a four-story building with a basement. 

This new fire station is built with Feng Shui in mind. It’s designed to receive a call, and its firefighters are to be out the door in one minute or less.

Also a first for an Aurora fire station: A specialized room for decontamination of fire suits.

A lot of thought and design went into the $7 million firehouse. The goal? It’s to benefit the community.

Sheila Noll, York County Board of Supervisors Chair, said during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new fire station that the station would help improve and modernize fire service, replacing a 60-year-old facility. 

The new device will allow teams of firefighters to take turns hooking into the fire house, requesting that those handling the water supply toggle instead to air for their emptying air tanks. Once the trapped firefighters have enough to breathe, they can ask to toggle back to water to fight the blaze and await rescue.

“(They) can actually tie into the hose line and breathe from the hose line, (which) pressurizes with air,” Watson said. The device can deliver as much as 100 pounds of air to firefighters’ 22.6-pound tanks, he said.

Watson saw the equipment at a firefighters’ conference last year and was immediately intrigued. Now, he has the money to install it on three trucks.