Lucketts Fire and Rescue Station

Luckett’s Fire and Rescue Station is a single-story fire station that staffs an engine, ambulance, tanker, and brush unit as well as the county’s swift water rescue team, which consists of rescue boats and a support vehicle. The facility includes administrative offices, watch desk, a meeting/training room, emergency equipment storage, living quarters, shower and locker rooms, recreation areas, kitchen and dining spaces, a fitness room, laundry room, turn-out gear storage, a decontamination room, a self-contained breathing apparatus room, an emergency medical services storage room, and apparatus bays.

Designed to serve a rural area in the county, the station exemplifies how health and wellness can drive building planning and construction. While supplanting the county’s 60-year-old station was necessary, a focus on crew safety was essential with modern decontamination systems and other health and safety applications. Highlights include exhaust capture filtration systems, CO and CO2 sensors in apparatus bays, separation of living quarters from areas high in carcinogens, direct exhaust from the decontamination room and gear storage, well-lit kitchen and dining space, outdoor dining area, separation of bedroom space from the station for better sleep habits, and red lighting at night to protect melatonin.

Typical infrastructure, such as municipal water and septic, was not available on the site. Consequently, construction included extensive site infrastructure improvements. A 20,000-gallon fire suppression tank and a 35,000-gallon fill tank are supplied by an on-site water well. These are designed to serve as fire suppression for the building and to fill tanker trucks. Septic needs were addressed by adding a sewer line that extends to the adjacent elementary school’s sewer treatment facility.

The station was recognized for green initiatives by earning LEED Silver certification. Attributes that made this achievement possible include: reflective roofing, light-colored hardscape, and permeable pavement that reduces the heat island effect; landscaping with native and adaptive plant species that eliminate the need for site irrigation and promote biodiversity; low flow plumbing fixtures that reduce water use by 34% over baseline; energy-efficient building envelope, lighting system, and HVAC system that reduces energy bills by 30%; recycled and regionally manufactured construction materials; the diversion of over 90% of construction waste diverted from landfills through recycling and salvaging.

Photos by Chris Cunningham Photography