Brambleton Public Safety Center Breaks Ground

Work on the Brambleton Public Safety Center along Belmont Ridge Road just south of the community began last week, which will soon provide fire and rescue services and house an office for the Loudoun fire marshal. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office opted out of the location, but the Loudoun Board of Supervisors discussed a possible Ashburn sheriff’s station during a closed session today.

During the fire and rescue groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 29, members of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors and the county’s fire and rescue system joined together for the obligatory photographs of people in suits and ties shoveling prepared scoops of dirt.

The new station, touted as state-of the art, will be house Fire and Rescue Co. 9 as well as the fire marshal.

The station’s 5-acre site sits along the west side of Belmont Ridge Road on land proffered by the Brambleton Group.

As part of the current county board’s intent to follow sustainable design and reduced energy consumption, a number of features were included in plans for the new station:

• Radiant heat in apparatus bays in combination with geothermal ground source heat pumps will increase the energy efficiency of the building and will result in electric and natural gas savings.
• A reflective roof, or cool roof, to further reduce cooling needs for the building by deflecting solar heat gain in the summer.
• Planned low-flow faucets, dual-flush toilets and waterless urinals should reduce water consumption.
• Plans include the installation of underground cisterns to capture rainwater from roofs and parking lots to be used to fill tankers as well as wash equipment and vehicles.
• A bio-retention pond and pervious, as well as reflective, concrete paving will reduce storm water run of and heat.

Career and volunteer fire-rescue workers will staff the station, with career staff operating the station from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and volunteers from the Arcola-Pleasant Valley Fire Department providing staff from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Keller’s Brothers Inc. won the construction contract for the station and expects to finish early in the spring of 2013.