Shive-Hattery Architects and Engineers was hired by Santa Rita Fire District, (then known as Green Valley Fire Department before a district expansion and name change), in 2019 to perform a study about the needs of the department and the feasibility of rebuilding its Station 152 or replacing it with a new structure. The decision was made to build a new Station 152, but the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way of things in 2020, and the following supply line interruptions and materials shortages, as well as large increases in materials costs, altered the building plans and stretched out the build timeline to the point where the new Station 152 didn’t go operational until the end of 2023.
John Price, Shive-Hattery’s architect, says the district had property across the street from the old station, which also had options for future expansion, so that’s where they sited the new Station 152. “We had a lot of meetings and interviews with the department staff, and came to focus on the wellness and health of the crews that would be working in the new station, as well as a hyper vigilance on the cleanliness and maintenance of the structure,” Price points out.
Price notes that the first plan for the new station envisioned two buildings along with support bays, but with the escalation of costs rising steeply between 2019 and 2022 when the station started construction, meant the district had to eliminate the second building. “In 2019, it was going to cost $5 million for the two buildings, but the finished station of only one building ended up at a total cost of just over $5 million,” he says. “The worst part of the supply chain issues that faced us on this project was with the equipment for the electrical and mechanical (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) systems.”
Joey Kosiorowski, Santa Rita’s assistant chief, says the new Station 152 brings the district’s total to five stations, covering an area of approximately 55 square miles and about 55,000 population with 100 paid firefighter/paramedic/emergency medical technicians (EMT). He says the old Station 152 was a two-story structure built in 1984 that the district outgrew. “Building a new station was more cost effective,” Kosiorowski says, “and we needed to improve on the group bunk rooms and group bathrooms in the old station.”
The new Station 152 designed by Shive-Hattery is a single story, 9,400-square-foot structure with three double-deep, drive-through apparatus bays, that’s separated into hot, warm, and cold zones, Kosiorowski points out. The apparatus bays have a negative pressure atmosphere to keep contaminants from entering the station’s living areas, and has a mezzanine along one wall that doubles as a training area for rappelling and bailout work.
Kosiorowski adds the new station houses three firefighters per shift on a paramedic engine, and one ambulance staffed by an AMR paramedic and EMT. A decon area, turnout gear storage room, and shower are located adjacent to the apparatus bays.
Price says the new Station 152 has seven single-bunk unisex dorm rooms with a desk and triple lockers, with three unisex shower/toilet bathrooms for the crew nearby. “The station has an open concept kitchen/dining/dayroom with a great view of the Santa Rita Mountains,” he says, with a covered patio off the kitchen/dining area.” The station also has a restroom for the public off of the public entrance lobby, a fitness room for firefighters, and a traditional laundry room and washer and dryer. Turnout gear extraction is done at a central location in the fire district.
Kosiorowski points out that in 2023, Santa Rita Fire responded to 14,146 calls, of which 50% were medical runs, 40% public assist calls, and 10% fire or rescue calls.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
