Pacific Highlands Ranch
Fire Station #47
Salas O’Brien performed mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design and LEED administration services for the Pacific Highlands Ranch Fire Station in San Diego, California. The state-of-the-art fire rescue facility achieved LEED Silver certification and has an overall energy performance that is 35% better than 2001 CA Title 24 requirements.
Our client
Pacific Highlands Ranch is a primarily residential community located in northern San Diego, California. With a population approaching 1.5 million, San Diego is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as one of the ten largest cities in the country. Even with this higher-than-average population to manage, our client—the City of San Diego—has been recognized by Bloomberg Philanthropies for effective, data-driven modern governance.
Project highlights
Their challenge
Pacific Highlands Fire Station #47 is located in a semi-rural residential district in Carmel Valley just north of San Diego, and city leadership needed a reliable engineering partner to handle its mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design. The facility supports 11 fire rescue personnel (including a Battalion Chief) and features offices, watch and communication rooms, a kitchen, 14 individual sleeping quarters, and exercise and locker rooms for staff use. Some of the unique features of the design are a covered fuel tank area (with 1,000-gallon fuel tank), a 26-kW standby diesel generator, and a tail-pipe vehicle exhaust removal system to support the station’s three drive-through apparatus bays.
Our solution
Salas O’Brien provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design and LEED administration for this project. Our design included a Halon-based, refrigerant-free HVAC system (reducing ozone depletion); individual controls of operable windows, lighting, ceiling fans, and thermostats; and high-efficiency lighting design.
The results
The finished, state-of-the-art fire rescue facility achieved LEED Silver certification and has an overall energy performance that is 35% better than 2001 CA Title 24 requirements.


