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14 April 2023
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Fire stations of the world: New fire station opens at Yakima Training Centre, Washington State, US
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A new Yakima Training Centre Fire Station opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 9 December 2022, completing one of the oldest military construction projects on record, dating back to September 2000. “With this new station, it allows us to have all fire department operations underneath one building,” said Christopher Dykstra, Yakima Training Centre Fire Chief. “Previously, we were in three different buildings and now all administrative activities and responses will be operating under one facility. This will improve our response capability and accommodate the full emergency response fleet under one central location. While the old station has served multiple generations of personnel for many years, the time had come to build a new home.”
The new facility will be able to house 13 fire fighters and all department apparatuses and will serve not only Yakima Training Centre but the surrounding communities as well, according to Chief Dykstra.
This design-bid-build project, a WHH Nisqually-Garco joint venture, features a 30 633 square foot new, one-storey headquarters fire station. The new facility includes operational, training, administrative and support spaces and will accommodate 41 permanently-assigned personnel. More specifically these spaces include administrative spaces, private offices, sleeping rooms, fitness room, day room, kitchen and dining room, secure lobby with remote access control, latrines with showers, a dedicated training room, decontamination area, hazardous material (hazmat) equipment storage and a conference room with associated building circulation and support spaces.
This new facility was designed for LEED Silver certification and will provide a modern fire station, compliant with Army Design Standards and providing a minimum service life of 40 years. This facility accommodates the multiple functional responsibilities of the YTC Fire Department, including response to structural fires, range and wild land fires, airfield (fixed and rotary wing) emergencies and general cantonment and training range emergency response.
In addition, this facility provides reciprocal response to off post emergencies in support of other fire departments in the local area.
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Horn, Yakima Training Centre Garrison commander, is pleased with the new facility in more ways than one. “The new station provides the Yakima Training Centre Fire and Emergency Services a much-needed upgrade in quality of life and safety,” said Horn. “The fire department will be able to house all their apparatuses in one facility, with all the fire fighters and chiefs under one roof and provide capabilities, such as an alternate 911-dispatch site and plenty of room for families to visit their fire fighters during their extended overnight duty hours.”
The new fire station will also benefit local communities because it increases the efficiency and capability of Yakima Training Centre to support its mutual aid agreements with neighbouring emergency response departments during emergencies that require more firefighting resources than a single agency or community can provide, added Horn.
The project was 22 years in the making and the length of time it took to complete was not lost on the installation commander.
“Luckily for me, I took command of Yakima Training Centre in the final stages of construction but there have been many commanders, directors, and chiefs that have been promoting this project for over two decades,” said Horn. “But inevitably, the project gets completed and today, we are the beneficiaries of those past efforts.”
The previous fire station was built in 1952 and has reached its sustainable life and will be demolished in the future.
Sources: US Army, Garco Construction
The new facility will be able to house 13 fire fighters and all department apparatuses and will serve not only Yakima Training Centre but the surrounding communities as well, according to Chief Dykstra.
This design-bid-build project, a WHH Nisqually-Garco joint venture, features a 30 633 square foot new, one-storey headquarters fire station. The new facility includes operational, training, administrative and support spaces and will accommodate 41 permanently-assigned personnel. More specifically these spaces include administrative spaces, private offices, sleeping rooms, fitness room, day room, kitchen and dining room, secure lobby with remote access control, latrines with showers, a dedicated training room, decontamination area, hazardous material (hazmat) equipment storage and a conference room with associated building circulation and support spaces.
This new facility was designed for LEED Silver certification and will provide a modern fire station, compliant with Army Design Standards and providing a minimum service life of 40 years. This facility accommodates the multiple functional responsibilities of the YTC Fire Department, including response to structural fires, range and wild land fires, airfield (fixed and rotary wing) emergencies and general cantonment and training range emergency response.
In addition, this facility provides reciprocal response to off post emergencies in support of other fire departments in the local area.
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Horn, Yakima Training Centre Garrison commander, is pleased with the new facility in more ways than one. “The new station provides the Yakima Training Centre Fire and Emergency Services a much-needed upgrade in quality of life and safety,” said Horn. “The fire department will be able to house all their apparatuses in one facility, with all the fire fighters and chiefs under one roof and provide capabilities, such as an alternate 911-dispatch site and plenty of room for families to visit their fire fighters during their extended overnight duty hours.”
The new fire station will also benefit local communities because it increases the efficiency and capability of Yakima Training Centre to support its mutual aid agreements with neighbouring emergency response departments during emergencies that require more firefighting resources than a single agency or community can provide, added Horn.
The project was 22 years in the making and the length of time it took to complete was not lost on the installation commander.
“Luckily for me, I took command of Yakima Training Centre in the final stages of construction but there have been many commanders, directors, and chiefs that have been promoting this project for over two decades,” said Horn. “But inevitably, the project gets completed and today, we are the beneficiaries of those past efforts.”
The previous fire station was built in 1952 and has reached its sustainable life and will be demolished in the future.
Sources: US Army, Garco Construction
