The Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department has completed renovations to Stations 38 and 41 to mitigate firefighter sleep deprivation issues, and remodeled and added office spaces at the department’s Fire Administration Headquarters building.
Jim Zwerg, architect and facilities manager for Phoenix Fire Department, says most of the department’s older stations, that is, those built previous to 2000, were modeled on the open dorm concept. “We had gone back and created partitions in the dorms in those stations to create gender neutral spaces, but didn’t address the infrastructure of the electrical, mechanical and plumbing in the dorms,” Zwerg points out.
Zwerg says that in order to address sleep deprivation issues among firefighters in those stations, the department set out to remodel the partitioned/open dorm stations into individual unisex dorm configurations. “With Station 41, which we just completed, and Station 38, which finishes up later this month, we stripped the drywall off the existing partitions and extended the walls to four to six inches above ceiling height,” he says. “We had to modify the mechanical duct work, electricals, and sprinkler heads to create a true individual dorm room like we would if we were building a new station.”
Station 41 is a converted school building on Morningside Drive that’s been modified a couple of times Zwerg notes. “It has three apparatus bays, Battalion 4, a district office, and a Community Assistance Program,” he says. “We renovated and remodeled the station so it now has 13 individual dorm rooms, 11 for the firefighting crew and two for captains, with the battalion chief having his own space on the west end of the station. The dorms have access to two men’s toilet/shower rooms, and one women’s toilet/shower room, while the battalion end has a large group bathroom with two toilets, four showers and a bank of sinks.” An engine, technical rescue squad, and rescue squad tender operate out of Station 41.
Station 38 is a three-bay station housing an engine and a rescue at Warner Road and Interstate 10. “We extended the partitions in the dorm space to full height and created eight dorms for firefighters and two captains,” Zwerg says. “There are a men’s and women’s toilet/sink/shower rooms adjacent to the dorms.”
Zwerg says that Phoenix Fire now uses the Phoenix G2 dispatch system in all of its stations. “It works great in stations with individual dorms,” he observes. “Firefighters have a remote unit in their dorms where they can control the entire room. There’s a tablet on the wall with a preprogrammed screen for volume and the vehicle they are on, and a speaker with a built-in LED light ring that lights up the dorm room with red lighting when alerted. Each dorm has one bed, three lockers, a desk if space permits, a Switchblade 2×2-inch LED light for housekeeping, and a LED bendable light near the bed.”
The work at Fire Administration Headquarters is progressing, Zwerg says. “Two very large office spaces have been converted into two chiefs’ offices, and three smaller offices for civilian employees,” Zwerg says, “and work is continuing on new offices for the human resources people and a fiscal management group.”
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Ariz.-based journalist, the author of three novels and five non-fiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment editorial advisory board. He served 22 years with Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including the position of chief.
