Fire Station 17 Hose Tower Repairs

Fire Station 17 photograph

Fire Station 17, constructed in 2011, is a Fire and Emergency Aid facility located on NE 116th Street in Redmond. The Station includes a hose tower for drying fire hoses and as a training facility for Fire Department personnel to practice firefighting and rescues under simulated conditions.

As part of the training, firefighters sometimes spray large volumes of water from fire hoses (at a rate of 300 gallons per minute). The stairs, landings, and floor drain in the tower are unable to drain this high volume of water fast enough, which results in water ponding, flowing under doors and through seams in the floor into adjacent spaces.

In response to these issues, the Fire Department suspended training in the hose tower in early 2018, and hired ARC Architects to evaluate the problems and develop recommendations to address the following:

  • Water pooling on stairway landings
  • Water accumulation on floor slab due to inadequate floor drain storage
  • Water infiltrating the surrounding walls.
  • Unsealed wall finishes and wood rafters that hold moisture
  • Doors without seals or thresholds that allow water into adjacent rooms
  • Wood sills in training windows deteriorating due to water damage

Following design, the hose tower was retrofitted with updates to allow training to recommence.