Fire service starts strong

Sandy Springs, Ga.

When Sandy Springs, a community of 87,000 north of Atlanta, became a city in December 2005, city officials wanted to build a fire department for the 37 square-mile city that would be staffed with highly trained fire fighters who could respond quickly to medical and fire emergencies. City Manager John McDonough hired Fire Chief Jack McElfish and doctors Ian Greenwald and Eric Ossmann of Emory University's Department of Emergency Medicine to lead the city's effort to develop an emergency medical services (EMS)-based fire and rescue service.

The department began to take shape as the city hired and trained personnel, and adopted fire codes. Sandy Springs Fire Department (SSFD) crews have a rigorous training schedule that includes at least 24 hours each year on everything from search and rescue to public transportation emergencies, and they must complete four to eight hours of training each month in both fire and EMS response.

Sandy Springs purchased two fire stations from Fulton County and leased a third within city limits. A fourth station in Atlanta city limits was leased for $1 a year in exchange for coverage to the surrounding area in Atlanta. SSFD ordered four custom-built, 105-foot quints (vehicles that carry supply hose, water, pump, 105-foot aerial ladder and ground ladders), and two 2,000 gallon-per-minute pumpers.

The city council approved $600,000 to install automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in police cars and top-of-the-line medical equipment on fire apparatus, and to train personnel in CPR and AED use. The city also purchased SUVs and staffed them with state- and nationally certified medics to respond quickly to medical emergencies. In addition, Greenwald and Ossmann established a program for senior emergency medicine resident physicians to work with fire medics in the field.

About $5 million was spent on start-up equipment: apparatus, phones, software and uniforms. Another $3 million covered salaries, benefits and operations. In addition, the community has contributed thousands of dollars in donations, which include Stryker “stair” chairs, animal oxygen masks and refrigerators.

The SSFD opened its doors Dec. 29, 2006. In the first month, its “fire rescue technicians” responded to 793 calls, 72 percent of which were EMS-related. During its first six months, the department answered more than 8,000 service calls. SSFD also plans to finish inspecting all 2,600 buildings in the city for compliance with fire and safety codes, having examined more than 60 percent by summer 2007.

City officials aim to raise the city's cardiac arrest survival rate from the metro area's average 1 percent to between 20 and 25 percent within five years. To that end, fire crews offer blood pressure checks and free CPR and AED training for residents, with the goal of having 1,000 people capable of using them by this year's end. By summer, nearly 500 had completed the program.

Agencies/companies involved: Sandy Springs, Pierce Manufacturing, Rural/Metro Ambulance

Water plant expands park

Scottsdale, Ariz.

A water treatment plant is not supposed to be a work of art, but do not tell Scottsdale, Ariz. The city needed to boost its water-producing capacity to meet new demand in an area near downtown that was attracting high-rise living, retail and commercial developments. But, the area was densely populated, so finding an appropriate, available and affordable location was difficult, and the plant's design needed to blend in with the neighborhood.

Officials found a 33-acre site near an underused city park and planned a 72,000 square-foot water treatment plant on nine acres, leaving 24 acres for more park space, including an off-leash dog area and two ball fields. “Placing a 30 million-gallon-a-day plant, including arsenic treatment, solid waste handlings and a 5.5 million-gallon reservoir and pump station on a nine-acre site is a modern marvel,” says David Mansfield, general manager, Scottsdale Water Resources Department. “Most plants this size would require a footprint three times larger.”

The result — the city-funded, $64.5 million Chaparral Water Treatment Plant — is the first major surface water treatment plant in Arizona to use membrane filtration for particle removal, to combine direct ultra-filtration membranes with granular activated carbon (GAC) absorption, to implement post-GAC filtration and to remove arsenic. Sodium hypochlorite, which is used to disinfect drinking water, is made on site, eliminating the need for gaseous chlorine storage.

The plant's design blends with the adjacent park and the nearby residential neighborhood. Its massive buildings are situated to minimize their silhouettes, making them scale with homes. Industrial elements are hidden from neighborhood view, and the plant functions quietly, does not emit odor or pollute and creates no traffic hazards, Mansfield says.

The plant also was designed to be an attraction in and of itself. Many of its exterior elements were created to reflect desert art and culture. For example, exterior pipes symbolize the filtration process and have an aesthetic effect when the light and shadows play off them. About 16,000 square feet of “tensile structures” — large, triangular awnings that represent nomadic desert dwellings — open out above the space like sails, providing shade. A system of indigenous rocks in metal baskets — “gabion walls” — is used to terrace the base of the plant and transition to the park. Additionally, the plant features a six-acre xeriscape garden with native plants and an outdoor classroom.

Since completion, the plant has exceeded the city's water quality goals, including particulate and arsenic removal, taste and odor control, and minimized disinfection byproduct. “The water plant serves as a testimony to engineering design and treatment technologies,” Mansfield says. “This project is a great example for other cities.”

Agencies/companies involved: Archer-Western, Black & Veatch, Scottsdale, Swabeck Partners, Ten Eyck Landscape Architects