San Jose opens new fire training center

California Construction News staff writer

The San José Fire Department (SJFD) and the city manager’s office of emergency management (OEM) held a ribbon-cutting for city’s new fire training center and emergency operations center last week.

“Believe it or not, I’ve been in the department almost 35 years now and our training center was old when I started,” said San Jose Fire Department Chief Robert Sapien. “So we’re in a facility that’s been long overdue.”

TEN OVER STUDIO designed the new fire training center, including a two-story fire training building, six-story fire training tower and training grounds. A new Emergency Operations Center, training rooms, and administrative space for the Office of Emergency Management were added to the project.

The new 6-story fire training tower features Class A and B training props and the grounds include a vehicle extrication area, driver training, and two smaller standalone training buildings.

Site improvements included utility infrastructure; covered storage for Fire and OEM trailers, equipment, and mobile units; space to store metal containers; perimeter fencing; gates; and landscaping.

The fire training building will be used for classrooms; fire training, EMS, recruit, data systems, and office emergency management administrative offices. An existing warehouse will be renovated for apparatus and equipment storage, offices for the BOS and the fitness center.

The project was built to USGBC LEED Gold Certification, will be Zero Net Energy and Zero Net Carbon and meet requirements of the 2019 Reach Code. Roof-mounted and carport-mounted solar panels will generate enough energy to power the entire Fire Training Building and the Emergency Operation Center.