Riverside Fire Department
We just completed a 5-million-dollar overhaul of our Public Safety Complex. We added several thousand square feet of space to the building. Upgraded all three of our department’s spaces, Communications, Fire and Police. We went from two locker rooms with a total of 3 showers, and an open bunk room concept to now 5 gender-neutral shower/bathroom/changing rooms and one large locker area. The locker area is just that, you get your uniforms, etc. out of your locker and then walk into one of the multi-use rooms to dress, etc. We decided to do this for several reasons best use of our space, never have to worry about who uses what shower/bathroom as they are for everyone, you just go in and lock the door, more of them, etc. We now have 6 separate bunk rooms to provide privacy for all, and lots quieter (you know how those loud snoring folks are). A quiet/new momma’s room.
We put in a commercial stove, a large Kitchen and day room, and a smaller Conference/training room along with upgrading our present training room that Fire, Police and Communications all use. Added two larger public bathrooms, we use to only have one stall before. Added an outdoor kitchen area with a grill and griddle that was donated by one of our local businesses Complete Home Concepts. More storage space for EMS etc supplies.
Painted the bays, upgraded the radiant heat system in it, and added two exhaust fans that will move the hot air out of the bays set on a thermostat or manual, our bay doors are also automated so that they will open about 5-10 inches to allow airflow without reducing the security of the bays it to is on a thermostat. Moved all our SCBA to its own room, added a gear storage room that has a negative air pressure to remove the gases that are off-gassing from gear, and a new gear wash and dry room.
A new access control system for all doors, including some interior spaces, and bunk rooms will only be accessible to fire personnel and no other city employees to help secure their personal property. This system has a future expansion that would allow us to track inventory using RFID tags so as the truck leaves the bays it knows what’s on it and when it returns tells us what’s missing to the point of who was on it and who did not return. We will be able to access it in real time, so as an example, the incident commander at an incident wants to confirm who came on what truck they will know. Also, let’s say we leave an ax at the fire ground, the crew can access the system when they get back and know it’s missing.
FFAM
