Fire Protection Design Requirements: Burlington Stores Distribution Center, Buckeye, Arizona

Meta Description: Fire protection design for Burlington's 2M-SF Buckeye, AZ distribution center under the 2024 IFC, NFPA 13 (2022), NFPA 72 (2022), ESFR, high-piled storage.

Section 1: Project Overview

On April 8, 2026, Burlington Stores celebrated the groundbreaking of a new distribution center inside Westpark 360 Industrial Park in Buckeye, Arizona, roughly 35 miles west of downtown Phoenix. When complete, the facility will total nearly two million square feet, making it one of the largest single-building industrial projects currently under construction in the West Valley. Burlington has confirmed a 2028 target opening and has publicly described the building as a highly automated facility built around integrated sortation systems, conveyor lines, and custom operations software.

The project team announced at groundbreaking includes Garrett Development and VanTrust Real Estate as developers, Layton Construction as general contractor, Butler Design Group as architect, with Langan and Logan Simpson providing civil and landscape engineering support. The site sits within the broader Miller Road and Lower Buckeye Road industrial corridor, a submarket that has attracted Funko, Five Below, and LGE/Creation projects over the past several years. At full capacity Burlington has said the facility is expected to bring thousands of jobs to Buckeye and the West Valley.

Section 2: Fire Protection Challenges Specific to This Project

A two-million-square-foot softlines distribution center built around automated sortation is a serious fire protection problem, not a standard warehouse problem. Several challenges drive the design.

First, commodity classification. Burlington moves apparel, footwear, home textiles, plastic toys, and mixed general merchandise. Under NFPA 13, much of that inventory falls into Group A plastics or Class IV commodity classifications once cartoned, and storage arrangements routinely push ceiling-only protection into the heaviest hydraulic demand ranges.

Second, storage configuration. Highly automated facilities combine racked storage, solid-piled cartons on conveyor stages, automated storage and retrieval pockets, and in-rack tilt-tray or pouch sorters. Each configuration has a different sprinkler protection scheme. ESFR ceiling-only coverage under NFPA 13 Chapter 23 (2022 edition) can protect Class I–IV and Group A plastics up to defined heights, but automation equipment introduces obstructions that can disqualify ceiling-only approaches and force in-rack sprinklers.

Third, water supply. Outlying West Valley sites often rely on on-site storage tanks, booster pumps, and dedicated fire mains under NFPA 20 and NFPA 24, because municipal supply alone cannot satisfy ESFR demands that frequently exceed 1,500–2,000 gpm at 50–75 psi at the most remote area.

Fourth, desert conditions. High ambient temperatures, dust infiltration, and seismic considerations for Maricopa County affect pump room design, device listings, and pipe hanger spacing.

Section 3: Required Systems and Applicable Codes

The City of Buckeye adopted the 2024 International Fire Code and 2024 International Building Code through Ordinance No. 20-24, effective for all new projects submitted on or after January 1, 2025. The Burlington distribution center will be designed and permitted under those editions. Buckeye Fire-Medical Rescue Department is the authority having jurisdiction.

Plan review in Buckeye is performed by the Fire-Medical Rescue Department Fire Prevention division, coordinated with Building Safety under the 2024 construction codes.

Section 4: What Designers Need to Think Through

Designers coming onto a project of this scale should pin down several decisions early, before hydraulic calculations are even started.

Commodity classification has to be negotiated with the tenant and the AHJ, not guessed. The difference between Class IV and Group A plastics can change ceiling sprinkler demand by thousands of gpm and can force pump upsizing, tank resizing, and pipe network rework late in design.

Ceiling-only ESFR versus ceiling plus in-rack is the next decision. Chapter 23 of NFPA 13 (2022) allows ceiling-only ESFR for many storage arrangements, but automated sortation equipment, solid shelving, and aisle obstructions can push the design back to CMSA ceiling plus in-rack, which affects rack design, pipe stacking, and ongoing tenant operations.

Water supply testing matters. A flow test performed in winter at low demand is not a reliable design basis for a desert site that will load the main hardest in summer. Test conditions, date, and residual calculations should be documented in the design narrative.

Smoke and heat venting, draft curtains, and access doors per IFC Chapter 32 need to be coordinated with the structural roof design, the sprinkler piping layout, and the architect's clerestory or skylight concepts before steel is ordered.

Section 5: How ProTech CDS Approaches Projects Like This

ProTech CDS designs fire alarm, sprinkler, suppression, and standpipe systems for industrial and warehouse projects across the country, including high-piled storage buildings of this scale. Every design package is delivered white-label so the contractor or design-build partner can present the work under their own brand, with NICET IV review and PE seals available in all 50 states when the AHJ requires them. Hydraulic calculations, shop drawings, commodity classification memos, and AHJ submittal packages are coordinated in one place. Ongoing project documents, redlines, and submittal history are tracked at lockin.protechcds.com.

Section 6: Call to Action

Working on a distribution, fulfillment, or automated sortation project and need a fire protection design partner? Request a scope review and fee proposal at lockin.protechcds.com, or email projects@protechcds.com with the project name, square footage, and target AHJ.