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6 February 2026
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Featured FRI Magazine article: Fire station planning principles: A new attendance time standard for community-centric fire response by the late Previn D Govender
A dynamic metropolitan local government environment constantly pursues the best models for service delivery
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A fire station must accommodate extremely diverse functions
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https://www.frimedia.org/uploads/1/2/2/7/122743954/fri_vol_3_no_11.pdf
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Fire station planning principles: A new attendance time standard for community-centric fire response written by the late Previn D Govender, divisional head: strategy and planning, City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (at the time of writing this article) (FRI Vol 3 no 11). We will be sharing more technical/research/tactical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Fire station planning principles: A new attendance time standard for community-centric fire response
By the late Previn D Govender, divisional head: strategy and planning, City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (at the time of writing this article)
Strategic location of fire stations and an efficiently managed and operating arrangement of response to alarms make the difference between life and death, recovery and devastation.
The planning and locating of fire stations are based on various factors that will include functional responsibilities, operational requirements, response times, high value risks, street-grid complexities, population densities, water supply infrastructure availability, politics and historic response data. This report proposes a new benchmark criterion for the planning and siting of fire stations that is based on built upon area rather than risk as described in the South African National Standards (SANS) 10090.
The article will be run over four consecutive editions due to its length and complexity. The first part of the series will introduce the need for fire stations, public expectations, key risk model and the planning drivers. The subsequent articles will highlight the importance of understanding planning drivers, calculations for optimal siting, choosing a site and a conclusion.
The need for fire stations
In a dynamic metropolitan local government environment that constantly pursues the best models for service delivery, investor attractiveness and revenue generation amidst increasing urbanisation and development demands; the obligation to provide protection against fire and related loss is a challenging requisite that must be factored in as a constant in the dynamics of responsive and future planning.
Critically, the need to provide emergency services must match the risk profile, which includes the built environment, the climate, geography and population.
A fire station supports the needs of the fire department and the community in which it is located. Strategic location of fire stations and an efficiently managed and operating arrangement of response to alarms make the difference between life and death, recovery and devastation.
The planning and positioning of fire stations are based on various factors that include functional responsibilities, operational requirements, response times, high value risks, street-grid complexities, population densities, water supply infrastructure availability, politics and historic response data.
A fire station must accommodate extremely diverse functions, including staff accommodation during their shift, recreation, administration, training, community education, equipment and vehicle storage, equipment and vehicle maintenance and hazardous materials storage. Every fire station is occupied continuously 24 hours a day, seven days a week and every station must be able to withstand this never-ending use. While it is usually only occupied by trained personnel, the facility may also need to accommodate the general public for community education or outreach programs.
Public expectations
Essentially, the most significant factor in planning for the location of fire stations is satisfying the public expectation that the right resource will respond within the right time with the right level of skills to assist during an emergency incident. This reality cannot be overlooked as like in any event of human distress; the human psyche is such that there is an almost inherent reaction to have an immediate sense of relief from such distress.
This need for immediate relief from actual or impending danger and protection from life and property loss signifies the importance of the extent of why planning for future fire stations must allow for the public expectation as a factor during technical and empirical calculations.
Key risk model
Fundamentally, a fire service provides emergency services based on a key risk model that accounts for risk mitigation of risks to itself as a service, mitigation of risks to the communities it serves and ultimately risk mitigation of risks that pose a threat to the sustainability of a society as a whole.
The key risk model for the provision of fire and emergency services is consequently based on the following:
Planning drivers
Location of fire stations, when properly qualified through well-informed study, must result in outcomes that will reduce risk and offset root causes that affect emergency service goals and objectives and the ever present public expectation.
Planning drivers for location of fire stations are mainly driven by the need to minimize response times and equally important, should be driven by future demand and forecasts. These are essentially the factors that underlie performance (causal) with the objective of using the location of the fire station to strengthen internal goal achievement and provide confidence in municipal ability ie meeting public expectations.
The three initial primary drivers that are needed in determining the need for building and operationalising of fire stations are:
The fourth driver would be:
As a consequence, fire stations will vary somewhat in design depending on specific mission, ie the types of emergencies that will be responded to or the types of fires that will be fought.
The next article will highlight the importance of understanding planning drivers, which will include SANS category 1 rating, urban complexity factor, consulting spatial development frameworks, optimal siting of fire stations, the Importance of time and alignment to standard.
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Fire station planning principles: A new attendance time standard for community-centric fire response written by the late Previn D Govender, divisional head: strategy and planning, City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (at the time of writing this article) (FRI Vol 3 no 11). We will be sharing more technical/research/tactical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Fire station planning principles: A new attendance time standard for community-centric fire response
By the late Previn D Govender, divisional head: strategy and planning, City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (at the time of writing this article)
Strategic location of fire stations and an efficiently managed and operating arrangement of response to alarms make the difference between life and death, recovery and devastation.
The planning and locating of fire stations are based on various factors that will include functional responsibilities, operational requirements, response times, high value risks, street-grid complexities, population densities, water supply infrastructure availability, politics and historic response data. This report proposes a new benchmark criterion for the planning and siting of fire stations that is based on built upon area rather than risk as described in the South African National Standards (SANS) 10090.
The article will be run over four consecutive editions due to its length and complexity. The first part of the series will introduce the need for fire stations, public expectations, key risk model and the planning drivers. The subsequent articles will highlight the importance of understanding planning drivers, calculations for optimal siting, choosing a site and a conclusion.
The need for fire stations
In a dynamic metropolitan local government environment that constantly pursues the best models for service delivery, investor attractiveness and revenue generation amidst increasing urbanisation and development demands; the obligation to provide protection against fire and related loss is a challenging requisite that must be factored in as a constant in the dynamics of responsive and future planning.
Critically, the need to provide emergency services must match the risk profile, which includes the built environment, the climate, geography and population.
A fire station supports the needs of the fire department and the community in which it is located. Strategic location of fire stations and an efficiently managed and operating arrangement of response to alarms make the difference between life and death, recovery and devastation.
The planning and positioning of fire stations are based on various factors that include functional responsibilities, operational requirements, response times, high value risks, street-grid complexities, population densities, water supply infrastructure availability, politics and historic response data.
A fire station must accommodate extremely diverse functions, including staff accommodation during their shift, recreation, administration, training, community education, equipment and vehicle storage, equipment and vehicle maintenance and hazardous materials storage. Every fire station is occupied continuously 24 hours a day, seven days a week and every station must be able to withstand this never-ending use. While it is usually only occupied by trained personnel, the facility may also need to accommodate the general public for community education or outreach programs.
Public expectations
Essentially, the most significant factor in planning for the location of fire stations is satisfying the public expectation that the right resource will respond within the right time with the right level of skills to assist during an emergency incident. This reality cannot be overlooked as like in any event of human distress; the human psyche is such that there is an almost inherent reaction to have an immediate sense of relief from such distress.
This need for immediate relief from actual or impending danger and protection from life and property loss signifies the importance of the extent of why planning for future fire stations must allow for the public expectation as a factor during technical and empirical calculations.
Key risk model
Fundamentally, a fire service provides emergency services based on a key risk model that accounts for risk mitigation of risks to itself as a service, mitigation of risks to the communities it serves and ultimately risk mitigation of risks that pose a threat to the sustainability of a society as a whole.
The key risk model for the provision of fire and emergency services is consequently based on the following:
- Responder safety: The risk to individual fire fighter safety or other emergency responders working under the direction of the fire service, posed by the hazards present on site and the likely consequences of any actions or failures of mitigating risk features.
- Individual and societal: The risk to the personal safety of persons other than fire fighters or other emergency responders working under the direction of the fire service, who may be directly or indirectly affected by the emergency event and the implications for wider society of any actions or failures of mitigating risk features.
- Community: The value of a site to the economic and social welfare of a community and the probable outcomes of a loss of the site including critical infrastructure and business continuity.
- Heritage: Recognition of the value placed by society on a site’s cultural and historic presence as part of the fabric of the national and local community.
- Environment: The likely consequences from an onsite event on the sustainability or quality of the surrounding natural and human environments.
- Lives and livelihood: The risk of preventable loss of lives and risks are judged of importance to the local, provincial and national economy.
Planning drivers
Location of fire stations, when properly qualified through well-informed study, must result in outcomes that will reduce risk and offset root causes that affect emergency service goals and objectives and the ever present public expectation.
Planning drivers for location of fire stations are mainly driven by the need to minimize response times and equally important, should be driven by future demand and forecasts. These are essentially the factors that underlie performance (causal) with the objective of using the location of the fire station to strengthen internal goal achievement and provide confidence in municipal ability ie meeting public expectations.
The three initial primary drivers that are needed in determining the need for building and operationalising of fire stations are:
- Levels of risk throughout the city
- Required and desired response times to those risk areas
- The speed at which fire apparatus can travel to this risk areas on existing and projected road networks.
The fourth driver would be:
- The consequence of inability to meet these requirements.
As a consequence, fire stations will vary somewhat in design depending on specific mission, ie the types of emergencies that will be responded to or the types of fires that will be fought.
The next article will highlight the importance of understanding planning drivers, which will include SANS category 1 rating, urban complexity factor, consulting spatial development frameworks, optimal siting of fire stations, the Importance of time and alignment to standard.