Bedford Park Fire Department Receives FEMA Grant to Protect Headquarters Station with Fire Sprinklers

Bedford Park Fire Department: (left to right) Fire Marshal Mark Murray, Fire Chief Sean Maloy and Deputy Fire Chief Bill Thomas

Fire Marshal Mark Murray, Bedford Park Fire Department

Firefighters have two homes – one where they live with their families and one where they live during their fire department shifts. And just like their family home, firefighters need protection from the dangers of fire when they’re at the station, whether cooking, working, or sleeping. Fortunately for firefighters at Bedford Park Fire Department’s headquarters station, their second home now has the ultimate fire protection with installed fire sprinklers.

Ninety-five percent of the cost of the fire sprinkler retrofit installation was covered by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant award.

“It has been a goal of mine to get this building retrofitted before I retire,” said Bedford Park Fire Chief Sean Maloy. “Now I will have peace of mind knowing the crew is protected when they are on the job.”

The station was built in 1976, with an addition in 1992, totaling 16,500 square feet. It contains an ambulance and a fire engine, a hazmat squad, and two reserve engines. Five to six firefighters staff the fire station each day with three to four administrative staff on shift during the week. The station includes sleeping quarters to accommodate up to seven firefighters.

“I am thankful that we got the grant when we did,” notes Maloy. “I know a neighboring department that had a fire in their firehouse while they were out on a run, and that building wasn’t sprinklered. So that station was out of service for some time. It took a toll on response times, which is ‘how fast can we get there when you need us.’”

Another consideration Maloy made with the grant request is a fire sprinkler ordinance in the village of Bedford Park. Every commercial building (and a few residential homes as well) are sprinklered. “I believe we should practice what we preach, which is why we made sure the other two stations were sprinklered when we designed and built them,” he says. “This retrofit was the last piece to the puzzle.”

The contractor for the project was United States Alliance Fire Protection, with foremen Dan Casey and Pat Sanders, third fitter Dan Rocks, and engineer Frank Papisee. The four worked around the firefighters’ activities to install the fire sprinklers as the firefighters actively lived and worked in the station. Jamie Reap oversaw the project.

“It’s gratifying that fire sprinklers now protect firefighters and their equipment,” says Reap. “There are too many similar stories of a firehouse burning down while the crew is out facing a different fire, and I think it’s only fitting these folks should be protected in the place that’s like a second home. The station is sleeping quarters for any number of these firefighters at any given time, and to have that level of comfort knowing that they have a fire protection system in place to take care of things is a really nice thought. I know they will probably like that too.”