Should firefighters bunk together?
An architect new to fire-station design contacted me to discuss sleeping quarters. He had read about the use of individual sleeping quarters, but was in the process of designing a fire station with a single dorm room. “What’s better?” he asked.
There’s no easy answer to this question. There are three basic types of sleeping quarters:
• A single large bunk/dorm room without walls to separate individual sleeping areas. The beds typically are lined up side by side and occasionally are separated by some sort of fixture, usually a locker or other storage unit.
• Separate sleeping quarters for each firefighter. Such rooms typically feature a bed, desk, and a locker or storage unit for each shift.
• A compromise solution based on the two previous types. There is one large dorm room but individual sleeping areas are separated by a (typically) 6-foot-high wall.
Read the entire story from FIRE CHIEF, our sister publication.
