San Francisco Fire Department

The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides fire and emergency medical services to the City and County of San Francisco, California.[3][4] The San Francisco Fire Department, along with the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco Sheriff's Department, serves an estimated population of 1.4 million people, which includes the approximately 850,000 citizens residing in the 47.5 square miles (123 km²) of San Francisco (including Treasure Island, Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the San Francisco International Airport, and the Presidio of San Francisco/Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

San Francisco Fire Department

Operational area
Country	United States
State	California
City	San Francisco
Agency overview[1]
Established	1866
Annual calls	135,091 (2015)
Employees	1,449 (2012)
Annual budget	$326,072,813 (2012)
Staffing	Career
Fire chief	Jeanine Nicholson
EMS level	ALS & BLS
IAFF	798
Facilities and equipment[2]
Divisions	2
Battalions	10
Stations	44 (Plus 3 at SFO)
Engines	44
Trucks	20
Squads	2
Rescues	2
Ambulances	16 ALS
Tenders	1
HAZMAT	1
USAR	1
Airport crash	4
Wildland	4 - Mini-Pumpers
Fireboats	3
Website
Official website
IAFF website

History

Volunteer companies were first formed in the city in 1850, and a paid staff established in 1866. In 1906, the department was considered on a par with those of the larger cities on the East Coast, but found itself reduced to fighting the fire of 1906 in the quake aftermath with axes and shovels, as most of the city's water mains were broken and cisterns drained. Fire Chief Dennis T. Sullivan suffered mortal wounds in his home by a falling chimney early in the disaster and subsequently died in the hospital.

In 1955, Earl Gage Jr. was hired as the first Black firefighter. His work as director of community services is credited with diversifying the department.[5]

Operations

Fireboats

The Phoenix docked at Pier ​22 ¹⁄₂.

Main articles: Phoenix, Guardian, and St. Francis

The SFFD has three fireboats that are docked at Pier ​22 ¹⁄₂. Fireboat 1, the Phoenix, was constructed in 1954 and is fitted with three deck monitors, a water town and two under pier monitors.[6] Fireboat 2, the Guardian, was constructed in 1950 and is the oldest fireboat in the fleet.[7] Both boats are 89-foot (27 m) and outfitted with two 500 horsepower (370 kW) engines giving them top speeds of 12.5 knots (14.4 mph; 23.2 km/h) (Guardian) and 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h) (Phoenix). A third new 85-foot fireboat (Fireboat 3) was christened the St. Francis in October 2016.[8][9][10]

Fire Stations and Apparatus

Fireboat Guardian stands on alert status near the Bay Bridge.

SFFD Truck 3 operating at a fire in the Tenderloin.

The former Fire Station # 1, located on Howard Street

SFFD Engine 16, quartered in the Marina District

Two SFFD truck companies at the scene of a 4th-alarm fire on 41st Ave. in the Sunset District

Below is a full listing of all fire station and company locations in the City & County of San Francisco according to division and battalion.[11]

There are also three SFFD-operated fire stations located at the San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County.

Fire Station	Neighborhood	Engine Company	Truck Company	Special Unit	Battalion, Division, Rescue Captain or EMS operations vehicle	Battalion	Division
1	South of Market	Engine 1	Truck 1	Rescue Squad 1		2	3
2	Chinatown	Engine 2	Truck 2		Battalion 1	1	2
3	Tenderloin	Engine 3	Truck 3			4	3
4	Mission Bay	Engine 4	Truck 4			3	3
5	Fillmore District	Engine 5	Truck 5	Light Rescue 5	Division 2	5	2
6	Castro	Engine 6	Truck 6	Decontamination Unit 1		2	3
7	Mission District	Engine 7	Truck 7	Rescue Squad 2, Light Rescue 7	Division 3	6	3
8	South Beach	Engine 8	Truck 8		Battalion 3	3	3
9	Dog Patch	Engine 9	Truck 9		Battalion 10	10	3
10	Presidio Heights	Engine 10	Truck 10	CBRNE 1		5	2
11	Noe Valley	Engine 11	Truck 11		Battalion 6, Rescue Captain 3	6	3
12	Haight-Ashbury	Engine 12	Truck 12			5	2
13	Financial District	Engine 13	Truck 13	CO2 Unit 1, Mobile Command 1	Rescue Captain 1	1	2
14	Outer Richmond	Engine 14	Truck 14			7	2
15	Ingleside	Engine 15	Truck 15		Battalion 9	9	3
16	Marina District, Marina Green Fort Mason	Engine 16	Truck 16	Rescue Boat 1, Rescue Water Craft 1, Rescue Water Craft 2 (Kept at San Francisco Marina Craft Harbor)		4	2
17	Bayview-Hunters Point	Engine 17	Truck 17	Portable Hydrant Tender 17		10	3
18	Outer Parkside	Engine 18	Truck 18	Coastal Rescue Unit 1 (Surf Rescue)		8	2
19	Stonestown Galleria Fort Funston	Engine 19	Truck 19	Haz-Mat. Assist Trailer		9	2
20	Laguna Honda Reservoir	Engine 20		Mobile Air Unit 1, Mobile Air Unit 2, Pollution Control Unit, Mobile Air Support Trailer 1		8	2
21	Panhandle	Engine 21		Attack Hose Tender 21, Utility Unit 1	Battalion 5	5	3
22	Sunset District	Engine 22		Portable Hydrant Tender 22		7	2
23	Outer Sunset District	Engine 23				8	2
24	Eureka Valley	Engine 24				6	3
25	Dog Patch	Engine 25		Mini-Pumper 25, Multi-Casualty Unit 1		10	3
26	Glen Park	Engine 26				6	3
28	North Beach	Engine 28				1	2
29	Design District	Engine 29		Decontamination Unit 2		2	3
31	Inner Richmond	Engine 31			Battalion 7, Rescue Captain 2	7	2
32	College Hill	Engine 32		Mini-Pumper 32		6	3
33	Oceanview	Engine 33				9	3
34	Lands End	Engine 34		Coastal Rescue Unit 2 (Cliff Rescue)		7	2
35	Pier ​22 ^1⁄2	Engine 35		Fireboat 1 Phoenix, Fireboat 2 Guardian, Fireboat 3 St. Francis		3	3
36	Civic Center	Engine 36		Haz-Mat. 1, Haz-Mat. 2	Battalion 2	2	3
37	Potrero Hill	Engine 37				10	3
38	Pacific Heights	Engine 38			Battalion 4	4	2
39	Forest Hill	Engine 39		Multi-Casualty Unit 2		9	3
40	Inner Parkside	Engine 40			Battalion 8	8	2
41	Nob Hill	Engine 41				1	2
42	Portola	Engine 42		Portable Hydrant Tender 42		10	3
43	Excelsior	Engine 43		Mini-Pumper 43, OES Unit 248	Rescue Captain 4	9	3
44	Visitacion Valley	Engine 44		Mini-Pumper 44		10	3
48	Treasure Island	Engine 48	Truck 48	Rescue Ambulance 48, Hose Tender 48, Portable Hydrant Tender 48		3	3
49	India Basin			ALS Medic Units, BioMed Unit, Arson Unit, Logistics Units, Supply Units	EMS Chief, EMS Operations Chief, Rescue Captain	10	3
51	Presidio of San Francisco	Engine 51				4	2

SFO Stations

All apparatus at SFO go by the 'Rescue' call sign, whether Engine, Truck, ARFF Crash, Medic Unit, or Command SUV.

	Location	Engine	Truck	Medic	ARFF Crash	Command	Other
1	West End of airport	Rescue 54	Rescue 47, Rescue 48 (relief)	Rescue 91	Rescue 10, Rescue 88 (Relief)	Rescue 67-Rescue Captain (Paramedic Supervisor)	Rescue 81 (Multi-Casualty Unit)
2	Intersection of four runways				Rescue 11, Rescue 9,Rescue 40 (Relief)		Rescue 61 (Utility), Airboat 51, RHIB, Rescue 55 (40' long Firefighting/Rescue Boat)
3	South End of airport	Rescue 33		Rescue 93	Rescue 12, Rescue 49 (relief), Rescue 41 (relief)	Rescue 65 (Batt Chief)	Bike Medics (SFO3 SFO4)

Disbanded fire companies

Throughout the history of the San Francisco Fire Department there have been several fire companies which have been closed due to budget cuts and the restructuring of engine company numbers in 1972–1973.

• Engine Company 27 (356 7th St.): Disbanded July 1, 1976
• Engine Company 30 (1300 4th St.): Disbanded July 1, 1976
• Engine Company 45 (1348 45th Ave.): Disbanded September 26, 1972
• Engine Company 46 (441 12th Ave.): Disbanded May 16, 1972
• Engine Company 47 (499 41st Ave.): Disbanded May 25, 1973
• Engine Company 49 (2155 18th Ave.): Disbanded July 20, 1972
• Truck Company 20 (285 Olympia Way): Disbanded September 30, 1980
• Division 1 (530 Sansome St.): Disbanded January 2, 2002
• Battalion 5 (1443 Grove St.): August 30, 2003, Reinstated January 4, 2017
• Battalion 11 (798 Wisconsin St.): Disbanded July 1, 1970
• Salvage Company 1 (356 7th St.): Disbanded 1980
• Salvage Company 2 (115 Drumm St.): Disbanded 1975
• Salvage Company 3 (441 12th Ave.): Disbanded 1977
• Salvage Company 4 (299 Vermont St.): Disbanded 1986

In popular culture

San Francisco Fire Station 12 fire truck with Grateful Dead–inspired logo sticker

• The SFFD was the responding fire department to a major high-rise fire disaster in the 1974 film, The Towering Inferno. The film cast many actual firefighters from the department and used SFFD fire trucks during the filming. Fire Station 38 was also shown. The exterior shots were done at the Bank of America Building.
• Actor Steve McQueen was given a San Francisco Fire Department Honorary Battalion Chief badge #33 with ID in recognition for his accurate portrayal of San Francisco Battalion Fire Chief Mike O'Halloran.
• The SFFD was also used in the Dirty Harry film series, particularly Rescue Squad 2 in Dirty Harry.
• When a veteran SFFD firefighter is killed and Adrian Monk is blinded in a mysterious attack at a firehouse in the Monk episode "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing", Monk must rely on his other senses to solve the bizarre case. In the course of the episode, he finds that the killer came to the firehouse to steal a fireman's coat and even finds that the man who blinded him had just beforehand killed a woman a few blocks away and set fire to her house (that fire was the one the engine company had been responding to when the murder at the firehouse took place). The depicted fire station, Fire Station 53, is a fictitious station. The exterior of the station was represented by Fire Station 1 of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
• In the Monk novel series by Lee Goldberg, Joe Cochran, Natalie Teeger's occasional lover, is an SFFD firefighter, making appearances in the novels Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse, Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants, and Mr. Monk in Outer Space.
• The SFFD was featured in two Emergency! television movies in 1978 and 1979, where L.A. County firefighter/paramedics Gage and DeSoto run calls with the firefighters of Rescue Squad 2.
• The NBC Television show Trauma followed the fictional lives of SFFD paramedics, EMTs and flight medics.
• The department is featured in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill. After San Francisco City Hall is set ablaze by the villainous Max Zorin in an attempt to kill Bond, the SFFD arrives on scene and assists Roger Moore's character in escaping the burning building and then ultimately "borrows" a SFFD ladder truck in order to outrun the police officers chasing him on the suspicion that his character set the blaze.
• The CBS television series Rescue 911's episode #107 the 4th segment featured the San Francisco Fire Department responding to an apartment fire and in one of the scenes, sparks shoot over a firetruck from a broken wire from a powerline. The station was Station #9, built in 1915.

References

1. "Annual Report 2012-2013 (FY)". San Francisco Fire Derpartment. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
2. "Apparatus Inventory" (PDF). San Francisco Fire Department. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
3. "Fire Department -". www.sf-fire.org. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
4. "About Us - Fire Department". www.sf-fire.org. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
5. Aleaziz, Hamed (12 August 2017). "Earl Gage, SF's 1st black firefighter, to be memorialized Monday". SFGate. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
6. "San Francisco Fire Department Apparatus Inventory" (PDF). San Francisco Fire Department - Fireboat Phoenix. Division of Training. pp. 84–85. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
7. "San Francisco Fire Department Apparatus Inventory" (PDF). San Francisco Fire Department. Division of Training. pp. 83–84. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
8. "New Fire Boat Joins San Francisco's Department". Retrieved 2016-08-09.
9. "Media Advisories & PSAs | Fire Department". sf-fire.org. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
10. Nolte, Carl (October 17, 2016). "SF welcomes new fireboat to fleet on anniversary of Loma Prieta". San Francisco Chronicle.
11. "Fire Station Locations - Fire Department". www.sf-fire.org. Retrieved 21 April 2018.

External links

• San Francisco Fire Department official website
• San Francisco Fire Museum
• History of the San Francisco Fire Department at the SF Museum
• SFFD Fire Reserve website