Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Facility (ARFF)

At 24,000 square feet, the new ARFF is triple the size of airport’s previous station, giving Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport firefighters the space and flexibility to meet needs well into the future. The department has 23 certified aircraft and rescue firefighters, 18 of whom are also emergency medical technicians, assigned to the ARFF to provide land and airside firefighting and emergency services.

The station is divided into four areas:

• the public zone, which includes a lobby, training room, public restrooms and a breakroom;
• administrative offices, conference rooms and duty rooms;
• living quarters with a kitchen, dayroom, exercise room, dormitory rooms, bathrooms and showers; and
• firefighter work areas, including apparatus bays, support rooms, a decontamination room, laundry room and storage spaces.

A 2,300-SF mezzanine at one end of the apparatus room has an open balcony with removable rails to allow for additional storage, rope and ladder work and a manhole opening for confined space and rescue exercises. The training room also doubles as the airport’s emergency operations center.

In addition to providing expanded creature comforts for the firefighters, the new ARFF is also better positioned closer to the middle of the runway. Because the ARFF station responds to emergencies on and off the airport, it was important for the design team (in association with WK Dickson) to provide both airside and landside access for emergency vehicles and equipment. When designing the building, a team led by LEO A DALY focused on situating the apparatus bays to optimize airfield access. Ultimately, designers settled on five drive-through bays, with five landside doors pointing toward the highway and five airside doors that are perpendicular to the airfield.

Multiple filtration units are used to remove exhaust fumes, while the controlled ventilation system provides additional safety measures. Direct-fired infrared heaters are used to spot heat the apparatus bays, improving efficiency.

The $9 million station was funded at approximately 65% by Airport Improvement Program funds, with the remainder drawn from airport funds.