Tucson is moving forward with the construction of a new fire station just northwest of Tucson International Airport, a project officials said is critical to the health and safety of first responders.
Council members recently approved the purchase of about 3 acres of land near South Nogales Highway and East Drexel Road to house the new station. It will allow for the construction of a much larger facility to replace fire Station 14, a tiny fire house situated in a residential neighborhood less than half-mile from the new location.
The city is still negotiating with Sunnyside School District — which owns the property where the new facility will be built — though Tucson staffers expect to pay around $400,000 for the land once they close the deal in the coming weeks.
Officials said the lot is in an “optimal location” because it provides easy access to a main roadway so firefighters will no longer have to contend with the neighborhood’s many speed bumps, sharp turns and residents who may be walking on the street during responses.
The larger facility will also prevent first responders from being exposed to toxic contaminants, such as diesel exhaust and chemical-riddled smoke residue, which are stored near living areas at the current Station 14 fire house.
The current Station 14 is quite cramped compared to the new one that will be built just northwest of Tucson International Airport.
“When you go to a fire, there are thousands of different chemicals burning and turning into this toxic soup of smoke. If we don’t have a mechanism for separating it and getting it off our bodies, we contaminate the station and then we’re absorbing all of these toxins into our bodies,” said TFD Assistant Chief Joe Gulotta, the head of the department’s capital projects. “We’re really doing a good job of designing safety and health into our (new) facilities, which is exactly what we promised the community we would do for our firefighters.
The facility will have features such as airlocked doors that prevent toxins from entering areas like the kitchen and living quarters where firefighters sleep during 24-hour shifts. It will also include “wash stations” where they can clean up so they don’t track chemicals into other parts of the station.
The design is in stark contrast to the current Station 14 facility, which houses eight employees every day despite being built for no more than six. Firefighters there use workout equipment located next to diesel exhaust and are “breathing in all of that junk” during their shifts.
“A lot of this is cancer-causing. Firefighters are dying of cancer at a rate much higher than any fire-related injuries,” said Gulotta. “We’re dying of cancer. Sometimes we’re not getting cancer until 10 years after we retire.”
The current Station 14 is so small that firefighters have to work out next to “toxic” diesel exhaust during their 24-hour shifts.
The assistant chief said the new facility will reduce that risk significantly and create a far safer environment for Tucson’s first responders. He added that the extra space will also help TFD take on additional resources down the road, such as more EMS teams or fire engines.
Station 14 is just one piece of a larger city effort to improve the health, safety and functionality of Tucson’s emergency service facilities: There are four other new fire stations in various phases of development, four that are being renovated and another five have already been upgraded, Gulotta said.
All of that work is funded through Proposition 101, a sales tax approved by voters in 2017 that has generated $160 million to pay for the projects — about $10 million more than officials thought would be generated when the initiative passed five years ago.
The 2017 sales tax has also funded resources like new police vehicles and equipment for the 911 center. Gulotta said the program has been “very successful” in creating safer conditions for TFD personnel so far.
Station 8 is another firehouse being constructed with Prop. 101 funds. The new Station 14 will look similar, with air-locked doors and wash stations to keep contaminants away from the living quarters.
“The city has been very responsible with the community’s money as it develops and meets the obligation of the Prop. 101 language,” he said. “We have done exactly what we said we were going to do, and the community can rest assured that their fire stations and their firefighters are going to be state of the art, and they’re going to be safe.”
It will be about another two years before TFD can move into the station because it will have to be designed and built after Tucson buys the land. It’s not yet clear how much the actual construction will cost, but officials said it will all be covered with Prop. 101 funds.
