Central Valley Fire District (CVFD) provides all risk fire, rescue, and emergency medical services for 36,000 citizens residing in a two-hundred-square-mile area near Belgrade that includes Montana’s largest and busiest airport—Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport.
Station 1, which was previously located in downtown Belgrade but is now near the airport, improves access and firefighter response times. It was a 63-year-old building erected by volunteers. The 1956 structure was not only cramped, dangerous and obsolete, but was showing signs of serious external and internal deterioration. The building’s façade had cracks at the bottom of the foundation and up the masonry walls on the outside of the building. Considering the construction era and construction type (unreinforced masonry) the facility was considered extremely susceptible to a seismic event, not an acceptable situation for an essential facility serving such a large contingency.
The Central Valley Fire Station project that has a complex structural design that uses materials from local sources that were built by local tradespeople to create a seismically sound facility. It includes a first-in-the-country decontamination station that protects firefighters from toxic, carcinogenic substances found on clothing and equipment.
Lateral and vertical system approach
Locally sourced equipment and labor
Masonry and wood shear walls
Separate structure for decontamination
Site-civil design
Structural design
Structural special inspections
Structural testing
The new CVFD facility was designed to serve a growing community by keeping its growth plan in mind. It contains numerous amenities to provide the quickest possible emergency response while improving the safety and comfort for firefighters who spend a third of their lives at the station.
The new station was designed with eight three-person bedrooms and four independent bathrooms. This set-up allows for shift changes without the need to constantly change sheets and also cuts down the potential for cross-contamination during cold and flu season. This proved especially important with the arrival of Covid-19.
The station contains a detached decontamination building—the first and only one in the United States. The building has cleaning equipment and laundry facilities that allow first responders to clean carcinogenic particles off of their clothing and equipment.
Morrison-Maierle’s structural engineering design is now in the national spotlight as there have been numerous site visits and tours of this facility from design teams and firefighters throughout the country.
Bozeman Yellowstone Airport Parking Garage
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