City of Indianapolis , Fire Station No. 7 – This station, designed by AXIS Architecture + Interiors, features glass overhead doors with windows that lighten the masonry facades, flood apparatus bays with natural light, and create transparency and illumination at night. Remaining facades include textured masonry units, composite metal panels, and glass storefronts. Photo Courtesy of AXIS Architecture + Interiors.

Tips Courtesy of the Fire Industry Education Resource Organization (F.I.E.R.O.)

The following are 10 station design tips compiled by members of F.I.E.R.O. based on its jurors’ years of experience in designing fire stations as well as judging station designs for F.I.E.R.O.’s Fire Station Design Symposium awards entries.

1. Provide bath, locker, and laundry facilities that not only allow but promote firefighters leaving their uniforms at work. This reduces the chance for contaminants leaving the firehouse.
2. Provide places to hang towels and clothes in shower areas.
3. If you do not provide benches or seats in the shower area, enterprising firefighters will provide them for you.
4. Provide counter space in bathrooms for toiletries. Provide toiletry lockers as well if the sink area is separate from lockers.
5. Provide a reading light and an outlet at the head of each bed location.
6. Make sure sleeping pods or bed areas will accommodate long mattresses.
7. Lockers in sleeping rooms may be more private but lockers in locker rooms promote camaraderie.
8. Do you want camaraderie or separation? What will your station promote?
9. Open communal areas promote togetherness and family. Consider the kitchen and dining area as the heart of the firehouse.
10. More rooms and more doors mean more opportunities to separate. You can still achieve privacy without complete separation.

By Plymovent Staff

Some fire stations find it hard to get all firefighters to consistently use installed diesel exhaust removal systems. This is understandable, given the physical and mental exhaustion that firefighters often experience when returning from a fire. Getting out of the truck to attach the exhaust removal hose to the tailpipe may not be the first thing on a firefighter's mind. But the long-term health risks make this a must-have activity. And, firefighters know they need to take advantage of any safety gear that prevents a fellow firefighter from long-term injury or health issues.

Richard Hasley, an engine driver for 17 years in Franklin, Tennessee, and owner of EDI, an authorized distributor of Plymovent, states it this way: “What the driver and officer of that apparatus need to understand is that each time the hose is hooked up it improves the quality of life for not just them but for each and every brother and sister firefighter in that building.”

To continue the training message in day-to-day activities, some stations have posted a “visual procedure” on a wall nearby to make hooking up the hose standard practice. The flier often contains an illustration showing the exhaust as a deadly hazard as it leaves the tailpipe, and focuses more on the “Why” than the “How” of using the hose. The training message reminds firefighters that they need to take advantage of ALL the safety equipment available to them, including SCBA, particulate hoods, wipes, etc. Here’s an example of a “Hook up the Hose” flier that a station using the Plymovent system:

Diesel Exhaust Is Carcinogenic – So Hook Up the Hose!

Reduce our carcinogenic exposure from diesel exhaust and the diesel particles that cause cancer.

Help Us Get to 0.05 mg/m

Diiesel particulate matter levels in a fire station range from 0.1 to 0.48, according to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The EPA’s recommended maximum long-term exposure to diesel particulates is just 0.05 mg/m. You are the key to helping all of us reduce our exposure.

Hook Up the Hose

Remember, the exhaust removal hose is a key piece of PPE equipment that keeps all of us healthy and safe. To hook up the hose, place the lower part of the nozzle onto the tailpipe and press down on the safety disconnect.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/hookupthehose/.