CAL FIRE Aviation

Centrally located at McClellan Air Force Base, CAL FIRE’s Aviation Management and Engineering teams oversee statewide flight operations, aircraft coordination, training, and logistics—keeping the fleet mission ready—while the Amador-El Dorado Unit (AEU) serves as a regional base with on-site pilot housing supporting rapid response across surrounding communities. We partnered with this mission-driven client to create facilities that perform under pressure while supporting the pilots and crews behind each operation. The campus is anchored by an existing maintenance hangar, enhanced with tower elements that house offices, training rooms, and crew amenities, maintaining visual connection to the hangar floor while organizing administration and instruction. Durable materials, exposed steel, and clear structural expression respect the building’s utilitarian roots, while adjacent pilot quarters—expanded to accommodate peak fire season—provide dorm-style rooms, showers, and shared lounge, dining, kitchen, fitness, and meeting spaces within a cohesive live-work environment shaped by the site. The result is a grounded, resilient campus designed to support a team operating at a critical level every day.

mcClellan park | hartin and Hume, inc. | kPFF | oEFC | baker williams engineering group

photography: scribe creative agency