[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6696788,"mediaKeyId","5161980-8bf1237266dd9d02354d53a11691835f","parentId",5161980,"title","Votes at a glance: Fire Commission actions Aug. 14, 2019","audioSeconds",10925,"startMs",139000,"endMs",11064000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5161980-8bf1237266dd9d02354d53a11691835f&start=139&end=11064","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5161980-8bf1237266dd9d02354d53a11691835f/thumbnail_139000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6696788/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/Votes-at-a-glance-Fire-Commission-actions-Aug-14-2019","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6696788-c8ac7cfbfce6eb9658231b8241a45808/orig.mp4?Expires=1771135835&Signature=F9uV08ya1E0sTgnqIc6~u8tcOr0kVjCwTPj7OHyVUyJNHNdAiL-MXQ~TDQBMuBcHzYghz2kH8rP7q4etcEw~atkKtk7GTFcWdTTtB-l2lqYllpoxgzQ4BUhrH2ZmocilFEAIPZ8ZX7wul0ZovyQ5jA2nyLR20JDVC6UDhHc4K~A~JL~5LW8eI7jzZCRhsAHM3MF7VSmZLRPViPWRDvzdNjjfpLGVqT7r1Y9g9IWaQUsd5kSLOiaMChWznSidYMufjHtgYU8u7wAdo~ISRRnlwBSeMWR5otZqlMbzv9IssBhIFD1IUrTz6gdsR5RatUr-l8jU2I52OcuNOz8hR79HVg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of San Francisco","date","2025-07-04T03:05:00Z","article","The San Francisco Fire Commission took several routine procedural actions during its Aug. 14 meeting.

- The commission approved the meeting minutes from July 24, 2019. The motion was moved by Commissioner Ken Cleveland and seconded by Commissioner Hartman; commissioners voted to approve by voice vote.

- The commission approved the chief of department's request for leave to attend the 2019 annual conference of the California Fire Chiefs Association. The motion was moved and seconded and passed by voice vote.

- The commission voted to conduct a closed session on item 11(b) and then, following the closed session, voted not to disclose discussions held in closed session. The motion not to disclose was moved by Commissioner Cleveland, seconded by Vice President Covington and adopted by voice vote.

No public comments were recorded for the votes listed above. All motions noted in the record were approved by the commission; no recorded roll‑call tallies were provided in the transcript for these procedural motions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City of San Francisco - Video Open Video Only in Windows Media Player - Jul 04, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Fire Commission approved routine items including the minutes from July 24, granted a leave request for the chief to attend a California Fire Chiefs conference and voted to proceed into closed session; the commission later voted not to disclose closed‑session discussions.","taxTitle","San Francisco City, San Francisco County, California","taxId",5751,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6696792,"SFFD reports new positions, hose tenders and emergency response strain after Chase Center drill",681,3489000,4170000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5161980-8bf1237266dd9d02354d53a11691835f&start=3489&end=4170","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5161980-8bf1237266dd9d02354d53a11691835f/thumbnail_3489000.jpg","/articles/6696792/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/SFFD-reports-new-positions-hose-tenders-and-emergency-response-strain-after-Chase-Center-drill","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6696792-6637c6f81e8d2c3d826be89df3bf9c90/orig.mp4?Expires=1771135835&Signature=ohZbSM5Sr3QH9X08ontNWftNCrpOAkxYkMswMbayu2tt7GhICpH1oCOhdx4T2eR7j1fHWY8-Dz95796sEkBApcL7~pHojZRqKmNcicXSafRNydhXhdMEJSyu4eEjcHNInkXRUd4dMVtOhihGZPOAGUkO1Sku4xvdPmVjoGadT82dfKVvuokiqMCrDrPrdprKqoFnXh4bgiNMWkqwwY27GLJ0T06BO5Hs7ZSt4MZKFtD0Y8pJlQrFbrysybkBNsO6J8rC3NbjgcKr2LyRpbE6ERN-bxpeUtHtZ8JZbPnnA0wQP37CzuGmjOe8Jw3EkwhYNRG0gowNcvZRE31LnKcp2w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Chief of Department Janine Nicholson reported budget, staffing and operational updates to the Fire Commission on Aug. 14 and Deputy Chief Vic Worsch presented the July operations summary, including EMS data and a drill at the new Chase Center arena.

Nicholson said the recently adopted city budget adds positions for department priorities: five EMS‑6 paramedic captain positions (including one supervisory slot), a health/safety/wellness battalion chief, two civilian positions (one for EMS billing and one for housing tracking and special projects), three assistant fire marshal positions and three inspectors for the Bureau of Fire Prevention and Investigation. She said the prevention positions are financed by plan‑check and permit fees and that three new hose tenders were procured (five total reported) — each tender is fully equipped and budgeted at about $1 million.

The chief also announced organizational changes: a new Assistant Deputy Chief of Support Services, Dawn DeWitt, joined the department and the department remains engaged with the mayor's office and other agencies on grants, emergency planning, Fleet Week and special events.

Deputy Chief Vic Worsch described operational highlights: 13 working fires during the reporting period, multiple rescues (including cliff and surf rescues, bay rescues and a high‑angle rescue to free four window washers 10 floors up), an SFO roof HVAC fire requiring an extended hose lead and safe extinguishment and McLaren Park wildfires linked to homeless‑camp cooking.

Chase Center drill and response times
Worsch and Nicholson described a large multi‑agency drill at Chase Center. Units responded with lights on but no sirens; the first engine arrived “in under 4 minutes,” Worsch said, while other units were delayed substantially — the first medic arrived about 24 minutes into the drill in the scenario recorded. The department identified traffic congestion and constrained street geometry as significant barriers to timely arrival of full response assignments and said more unannounced drills are planned to test alternate routing and coordination with SFMTA and event planners.

EMS, frequent callers and Narcan
Nicholson and Worsch discussed EMS6, a pilot targeting frequent 911 callers. Worsch reported the total number of frequent 911 callers meeting reporting criteria is 640 and the total number of calls generated by high‑frequency callers was 1,047 in the reporting period; “95% of encounters were with high frequency users,” the deputy chief said. Commissioners discussed the predominance of homeless individuals among EMS6 encounters and the implications for budgeting and program naming.

Narcan (naloxone) administration was included in the EMS statistics; commissioners noted a near 100% increase in naloxone administrations compared with the previous July and urged that these data be used in ongoing discussions with the Department of Public Health and hospital partners.

Ambulance staging, hospital offload and time on task
Commissioners asked about ambulance time at hospitals and off‑load delays. Nicholson said the department tracks time on task and that it has risen about 25% over several years; she agreed to pursue more precise tracking of time that ambulances spend at hospitals to support discussions with DPH and hospital operators.

Other items
Nicholson said new city construction permitted after Jan. 1, 2020 will likely not include natural gas lines in city‑owned buildings and noted continuing work on animal sheltering, training, the fire department operations center and cross‑training among battalions and inspectors. Worsch said the department has equipped apparatus with personal radiation detectors and is coordinating PG&E public‑safety power‑shutdown planning and elevator vendor triage plans for a potential power outage.

No formal commission votes were taken on the operational reports; commissioners asked for follow‑up materials including the Chase Center drill report, additional visuals for the hose tender procurement and more detailed EMS breakdowns.","Chief Janine Nicholson told the Fire Commission the department secured new budgeted positions and five hose tenders; Deputy Chief Vic Worsch presented July operations including rescues, a SFO roof fire and a Chase Center drill that showed a fast first engine response but long arrival times for other units.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6696796,"Fire marshal details growth in prevention, new complaint unit and proposed code updates",742,188000,930000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5161980-8bf1237266dd9d02354d53a11691835f&start=188&end=930","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5161980-8bf1237266dd9d02354d53a11691835f/thumbnail_188000.jpg","/articles/6696796/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/Fire-marshal-details-growth-in-prevention-new-complaint-unit-and-proposed-code-updates","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6696796-a7a2f7c29b080e75dfc7da19cfedff9b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771135835&Signature=B~9yXTVByQ50VFpJeQJ-WwODJhvK6kL7Z3e4kM5tNUTf5HH5dXhuzLQrDe72wH5oYftRyNnsLROgvj1O0Fpmvo~GrkGP3bIjUMANw7cIqL~bo6nGCsAQfijb2Y1G8CYHleCgwJg~zBczAxW-HggrW0JD9jf0ObNQFdebCvg20ZWdfBtmLpZ61HBJaMm9VxbOy2pbt06xzFVuS7PozmnQeKAseKXNPAjenBmZiuwkt18HNPUGoKzaUNM1c3bPtHa~mmdZC92WJNuHyZwLYkRFvJ1ZpQzLra7gcLNFX3n97Z2lMbI9GF0gbLYzMjkEMofpc4-5gzXEoWM50HRU5ClD1w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Fire Marshal Dan DeCasio briefed the San Francisco Fire Commission on Aug. 14 about the Division of Fire Prevention and Investigation's expanded workload, new enforcement units and pending fire‑code changes.

DeCasio said the division completed 26,000 inspections in the last fiscal year — “a 50% increase over the last 10 years” — and processed about 13,000 construction permits, “an increase of a 100% over the last 10 years.” He described the division as roughly 100 members, organized into two bureaus (Fire Investigation and Fire Prevention) and a series of specialized sections handling plan check, field district inspections, operational permits, high‑rise inspections, school inspections, residential care facilities, the Port and SFO work.

The fire complaint section is new, DeCasio said, with four inspectors and a lieutenant assigned as an accelerated code enforcement team; the unit receives “anywhere from 400 to 500 complaints a month” and issues about “100 to 150 violations a month.” He said complaints that are not abated are forwarded to the administrative hearing process overseen by Captain Ken Coughlin.

Why it matters: the department is seeing large increases in construction and inspection workload while expanding enforcement capacity and moving to electronic systems that aim to shorten permit timelines and reduce duplicative review across city departments.

DeCasio outlined several current initiatives. The division is piloting electronic plan review starting with accessory dwelling unit (ADU) applications and expects a multi‑year rollout to citywide paperless review. Staff will be co‑located at the new consolidated permit center at 49 South Van Ness next June to streamline construction and operational permit coordination, he said. The division is also preparing administrative bulletins and technical changes that will be folded into the local amendments to the 2019 California Fire Code; DeCasio said those amendments will form the San Francisco Fire Code effective Jan. 1, 2020, and will go to the city attorney and then to the commission before coming to the Board of Supervisors.

Commissioners pressed several operational and policy details during the Q&A. Vice President Francie Covington asked about rooftop open‑space and allowed uses; DeCasio said the current code does not explicitly define whether a building roof used as shared open space should be treated as an R‑2 residential accessory space or as a place of assembly, which carries different occupant‑load and life‑safety requirements. He said the department is coordinating with the Building Department and the state fire marshal on interpretations and expects to publish guidance or an administrative bulletin to clarify occupant load, railing and cooking restrictions and enforcement. “We will need to do that in conjunction with the Building Department,” he said.

Commissioners also discussed span of control and leadership positions. DeCasio said the division has increased section chiefs over two decades and is pursuing additional chief‑level positions to improve oversight and responsiveness.

Other items noted in the presentation: community outreach and training programs (including plan‑review training developed by a fire protection engineer), a special housing team that prioritizes 100% affordable housing, ADUs, RAD and homeless‑shelter projects and a TASK representative who reviews street‑calming proposals with an eye to preserving fire access.

DeCasio credited recent reductions in an investigation backlog (down from 407 to 53 reports) to management and training changes and emphasized website enhancements, including public access to fire inspection records by address.

The commission did not take formal action on the presentation; DeCasio said recommended code amendments and accompanying administrative bulletins will be returned for commission review and a subsequent vote.

Looking ahead: DeCasio said the final draft of the code amendments will be shared with the chief and the commission before referral to the city attorney and the supervisors. The department also plans to evaluate and report back once the electronic plan‑review pilot expands beyond ADUs.

","Fire Marshal Dan DeCasio told the San Francisco Fire Commission that the Division of Fire Prevention and Investigation has expanded staff and output in the past decade, launched a dedicated fire‑complaint section, is piloting electronic plan review and plans amendments to the city's fire code to take effect Jan. 1, 2020.","actionData","errors"]

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Votes at a glance: Fire Commission actions Aug. 14, 2019

SFFD reports new positions, hose tenders and emergency response strain after Chase Center drill

Fire marshal details growth in prevention, new complaint unit and proposed code updates