Fire Station HOT ZONE Design

Fire Station HOT ZONE Design

The article by Erickson has been developed to provide guidance on how to design a fire station that emphasizes on the safety of the firefighters. The article calls for collaboration between the entire relevant stakeholder such as architects and fire department during the design, planning and construction stages. This will help come up with a station that is helpful in the reduction if cancer among the firefighter. While studies trying to establish the consequences of the firefighters work to their health are still ongoing, it can be observed that the firefighters are exposed to carcinogenic products, and how they carry cancer-causing agents to the fire station.  The article is focused on addressing the architects and fire departments and informing them on how efforts to contain the contaminants can help protect the firefighters from very high risk of getting cancer (Erickson, 2014).

The author’s main point is that the firefighters are at higher risk of getting cancer due to direct contact with carcinogenic material required in their nature of work. The author makes his case by providing statistics that show that the firefighters are a 100% more likely to develop testicular cancer, faces a 50% more chance for an incurable bone cancer, 50% risk for non- Hodgkin lymphoma and 28 % higher chances of prostate cancer (Erickson, 2014). It is no wonder that the insurance categorizes fire service professional as high hazard. These issues can be dealt with design approaches to help achieve health for the firefighters.

It has been identified that the firefighters are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in their daily operations. Some of these chemicals include benzene, formaldehyde, butadiene, toluene, and isocyanides (Erickson, 2014). Their normal work operations involve emergency responses to occurrences mostly involving smoke. It does not matter which type of fire, the presence of smoke is direct confirmation of carcinogens being available. Exposed body parts that come into contact with the smoke react and become transporter the cancer-causal agents. The equipment and gears exposed to smoke become contaminated with carcinogens and are transported to fire stations from where firefighter mingles with them (Erickson, 2014).

The article conducts an analysis of the traditional firehouse that is designed with the aim of being extremely functional and efficient in fire and rescue services. The fire house is designed in a way that clear, direct and unobstructed paths are used with all corridors flowing efficiently in a manner that reduces turns towards the bay; the second floor is designed to ensure privacy through individual bunkrooms surrounding a center of private toilets and laundry room. From this floor, multiple paths to the Bay are provided in the form of two stairs and a sliding pole.

The new proposed design that considers the long-term health of firefighters is provided. This follows a strategy that is centered toward controlling the entry and handling of cancer-causing agents contaminated firefighters and gear into the building. This is achieved through maintaining three levels of exposure to contaminants. The zones include Hot Zone marked with red to represent high hazard region, Transition Zone that is yellow and represents a moderate hazard and finally the Cold Zone marked as green for low hazard (Erickson, 2014). All spaces that are exposed to carcinogens are put in the Hot Zone and are concentrated in on a section of the building. The regions of living and working space are in a separate are marked as Cold Zone.

The overall benefits of the designed can only be achieved if the issue of introduction and spread of carcinogen materials within the fire station is addressed, the strategies for achieving this include: containing the contaminants; this is achieved by placing all gears and equipment used in responding to incidents in the Hot Zone (Erickson, 2014). Decontamination and wash down procedures occurs in this zone. There should be a distinct level of the service people occupancy for the zone of contaminants. Within this zone, the individuals are free to carry on with their normal schedule with no worry of getting contaminated.  Emphasize should be put in maintaining the highest hazards through the cleanup process of the gear and apparatus after a response to an incident to help control contaminated materials. The Hot Design Zone requires the damping of the storing approach where gears are stored in open racks. This procedure exposes the gear to the more breakdowns by UV exposure, and also increases contamination through apparatus exhaust. It further sees the off-gassing of carcinogen into vapor which spreads into the living zones which were supposed to be clean. The transition points such as passages, doors, and corridors between the Hot and Cold zones required decontamination procedures and processes by installing hand sinks, hand sanitizers, and mats (Erickson, 2014).

The points described in the article are helpful in building a case to support the main argument. Using the Hot Zone Design, we can help reduce the proliferation of cancer cases amongst the firefighting community. The goal is worthy. The least we can do to people dedicated to saving the lives of others is to ensure that their exposure to fatal risks is also reduced. The architect and other designers should ensure that the welfare of the firefighters is put in place. In the long run, a fire station will be designed, and then why not just do it in a safe manner that will provide the firefighters with a reason to smile. It is beneficial to reduce the carcinogens contamination facing the firefighters especially after serving in a selfless duty of saving other peoples’ lives and property.

ReferenceErickson, P. (2014). HOT ZONE Design. Station Design