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Playing With Fire : Auxiliary base prototypes for wildland firefighters
By : Justine Binet
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Student
Categories : Students work / Student - Architecture : Silver Certification
In recent decades in Canada and the USA, authorities have tended to order the immediate suppression of all fires. As a result, many forests did not burn deeply, leaving dead trees and other fuels to accumulate in the undergrowth. Today, we are experiencing the after-effects of this policy. Fires with plenty of available fuel combined with climate change, which lengthens the dry season and increases its temperature, create the perfect storm.
With the fire season stretching on every year, accumulated fatigue and sleep deprivation become a major issue facing fire crews. The days are long, the work sometimes takes place at night, and firefighters sleep an average of 6 hours a night from May to October. As the season progresses, a major sleep debt is created. This leads to an increase in inattention errors causing accidents. Indeed, wielding a chainsaw, cutting trees and driving long hours are all activities likely to turn into accidents in a moment’s absence.
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In Saguenay, forest firefighters work during the day and live near main or secondary SOPFEU bases when they’re not on an emergency. During a major fire, firefighters are moved to auxiliary bases, fire complexes are organized or firefighters are housed in forest camps, Hydro-Québec housing or other forest infrastructures. They drive or are airborne on the fire they fight each day from this nearby camp.
In their spare time on auxiliary bases, firefighters have to train, cook, and prepare for the next day, but the existing infrastructures are outdated and don’t allow them to do this adequately. Nor are they comfortable enough to ensure a good night’s sleep. The project therefore consists of a new proposal for auxiliary base prototypes enabling firefighters to look after themselves as well as possible outside their working hours, offering them a good quality of sleep and time off and thus ensuring that they are at their best when fighting fires.
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Auxiliary bases are permanent camps, only occupied during the fire season by on-call firefighters. Given the difficulty of accessing camp locations and the lack of available manpower on site, prototypes would consist of prefabricated modules that can be assembled in multiple ways according to the needs of each camp, thus accommodating from 8 to more than 24 firefighters on a permanent basis during the fire season. It’s also important that the modules are energy self-sufficient, given the difficulty of connecting them to the power grid.
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Moreover, as the camps are laid out specifically in locations at higher risk of forest fires, the modules have been designed according to principles that limit the risk of fire, fly ash and combustible debris spreading inside the modules. This involves creating modules with simple shapes that do not allow debris to accumulate on or near them, as well as the use of non-combustible materials on the exterior.
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Particular attention has also been paid to the quality of interior spaces and the various scales of socializing places. Indeed, firefighters can spend months together in fairly remote locations, so it seemed important to offer multiple pleasant places to regroup or spend time alone.
Designing high-quality, livable auxiliary bases tailored to the needs of wildland firefighters could be a step forward in making this profession safer and more sustainable.
