Wendel, and its associated companies Five Bugles Design and Mitchell Associates Architects, was tasked with designing and building two fire stations for La Crosse (WI) Fire Department after a feasibility study determined the need for updated stations. But the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain building materials shortages stretched out the building timelines to the point that Wendel was working on both stations at the same time.
“I’d never recommend building two fire stations in the same year,” says Jeff Schott, La Crosse’s chief. He says La Crosse had initially planned to build a new Station 4 and demolish the old station which was woefully inadequate, but after the public got the old Station 4 placed on a historic registry, work had to stop and additional properties were purchased to site the new Station 4. While that was happening, design and construction began on Station 2.
Robert Krzyanowski, Wendel’s director of emergency services and senior associate principal at Five Bugles Design, says that Wendel not only served as the stations’ designer, but also as construction manager on both projects. Krzyanowski says the new Station 2, a 20,000-square-foot structure that serves the city’s West side, houses two engine companies and a battalion chief in three double-deep drive-through apparatus bays, as well as the department’s administrative team.
Because Station 2 is located on a one acre site alongside the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, Krzyanowski says the overall site design and layout of the facility focused on maintaining user safety, the need for a highly functional and response driven safety, and a no-backside aesthetic with all four sides of the station being visually appealing.
The first floor of the station has a decon laundry and turnout gear storage room adjacent to the apparatus bays, apparatus support spaces, a watch/command office, an exercise room, a residential laundry, seven individual firefighter dorm rooms, one battalion chief’s dorm room and bathroom/shower, and three unisex shower/toilet facilities.
The second level has a small reception area, a conference room, and 13 offices for the chief, assistant chiefs, division chief, fire investigators, a battalion chief, and shift officer. The second floor also houses a kitchen, dining room, day room, and rooftop patio. Two fire poles are located in the upper living spaces to allow responders to quickly move to the apparatus bays.
Schott points out the department has a total of 112 employees that include 86 paid full-time firefighters staffing its four stations, and 14 administrative staff working out of Station 2. “We cover a municipal urban area of 22 square miles with a 52,000 population, and also contract to cover an adjacent township of another eight square miles,” he says. “We handle 7,000 runs annually with two engines, three quints, a heavy rescue, and a light rescue. Our rescues are set up for high and low angle rescues that we have to perform a couple of times a month on nearby recreational trails.”
La Crosse Fire Station 4 on the city’s North side has four double-deep drive-through apparatus bays, Krzyanowski points out, with apparatus storage rooms, a decon laundry and a turnout gear storage room adjacent to one side. The single story station also features a public lobby with a historical display, a police office and interview room, public toilets, and a quiet mother’s room.
Station 4 also has eight individual firefighter dorm rooms, each with a bed and triple lockers with storage underneath, five unisex shower/toilet rooms, a residential laundry, a watch/command room, an office, a kitchen and dining room, and a day room.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
