The conceptual plans for a floating expansion of San Francisco’s historic Fire Station 35 at Pier 22 ½, which was built back in 1915, have been detailed and newly rendered.
As designed by Shah Kawasaki Architects, the proposed 16,400-square-foot structure would accommodate a third fire boat; new rescue watercraft, jet skis and a dive boat; men’s and women’s locker rooms, a dorm with 26 beds and officer quarters; and direct ambulance access to the back of fire station for transfers of those who are injured.
As envisioned, the floating station will be assembled on a barge docked at Treasure Island and transported across the bay. And if all goes as planned, the new floating station will be delivered and operational in early 2021 while the historic fire station building will continue to operate and house Engine Company #35.
Beautiful. Build it for our wonderful firemen. SFFD is the best.
Dan White was SFFD. Reactionary bastion just as every other fire department in this country
Oh good lord, srsly? You’re going to paint the entire SFFD based on the actions of one psycho? (And note that I say this as an older gay man, very aware of the impact of the assassinations.)
Yeah, seriously. In spite all the BS in the wake of 911, police and fire departments across the country are havens of the worse -isms of American society.
It must be amazing to live this cynically. I hate to break it to you, but there are terrible people in every profession, and most don’t run into burning buildings to save your ass.
What’s with the political censorship at this site?
[Editor’s Note:: Unfortunately calling people “POS’s” doesn’t qualify as particularly astute, much less appropriate, political commentary.]
That was qualified as limited to “politically” and we’ve seen much pithier here. Seems to depend upon your bias which is hardly a good basis for the exercise of editorial discretion.
correction: he was a cop.
And a firefighter
Why four years to completion?
The regulatory approvals for building on the bay, the process for which was initiated last year, aren’t expected to be secured until early 2019.
There’s a regulatory body called Bay Conservation and Development Commission and they have very restrictive interpretations on what can be put on the bay. From my recollection, according to BCDC a boat in a marina with a liveaboard is considered bay fill.
Could they skip some of that by promising to move it around from time to time?
(Most kidding…)
The same NIMBY neighbors across the street who nixed the Warriors stadium have to okay it (why can’t they have kids and move to Marin like everyone else?).
Don’t they need a gym, a cafe, a lounge and a BBQ pit?
Nothing is too good for our overpaid firemen!
Amen to that! Where else can someone live high off the hog with a GED?
BART
Frankly I don’t think you could pay me enough to ever do what they do – from actual fires, to dealing with crazies and homeless.
But hey – I’m sure if you want to save a slim portion of your taxes and take that out of their salary, they’ll be happy to skip coming to your house when it’s on fire.
I think anyone who criticizes the SFFD must have zero knowledge about what happened during the Loma Prieta quake… in fact just a year or two ago on here, people were questioning the need for a new fire boat … even though a fire boat pumping seawater ashore was pretty much the only thing that kept the *entire* Marina from going up in flames.
Most of their calls are for medical situations (google is your friend) and I’d argue that there’s a better model for that then sending out a truck and a paramedic vehicle for every call.
Let’s face it, the fire department is basically a blue collar jobs program.
I’m all for having more cops, because more police act as a deterrent. More firefighters just means more bloated salaries and pensions.
Yeah, that’s what I meant when I said “dealing with crazies and homeless”, because a lot of those “medical situations” are passed out druggies and homeless. Common sense is your friend.
That’s my point. Does it really make sense to send out firefighters and a truck to deal with a crazed homeless person? How about people who are, you know, trained to deal with them? I’m sure we could hire social workers and EMTs to respond better to these situations at half the cost of a firefighter.
Firefighters are like insurance companies in that you don’t really need them until an emergency, except better – they may actually save you, your house or your stuff, while insurance companies will do all they can to pay you as little as possible as late as possible.
Or maybe SF should go like sunnyvale – all cops are trained as firefighters and vice versa (and yeah, they get paid more because of more training – but they are more fungible in a disaster).
Do I remember that the SFFD made it a legal requirement that they send a fire truck along with each ambulance for every emergency call?
They look like they’re working pretty hard when they drive a fire truck to the coffee shop every morning and linger for an hour flirting with the baristas.
The plans do include a library, study, lounge and kitchen, and thankfully so as far as we’re concerned.
When our home/boat is in flames, or there’s another emergency at hand, we’d like to think the people risking their lives to save us are as rested, nourished, fit, prepared and close to their gear as possible (versus down the block waiting for someone’s avocado toast to be made or working out at a 24 Hour Fitness).
And now back to the actual station and topic at hand…
This is what taxes are for I suppose, so build it. I’d love to see a graph of fires / time. I would think that fires are down significantly as new technology and regulations around construction come into play.
And the architects are?
SKA, Oakland.
This facility will be needed more and more as passenger ferries and water taxi service picks up. Note that ferries will be the main way to get on or off the island at the TI project.
This is perfect once global warming kicks into full gear! It won’t tied down to a pier and float anywhere. In 20 years, it will can float right above the Financial District; yes, the original district during the Gold Rush Era.
The region is undergoing a large and expensive preparation for the “big one”. New hospitals and trauma centers with h lo pads. A new SFPD/FD headquarters. Expanded ferry service. All on the east side of the city. It’s called resilience. When the street are destroyed along with the water system these facilities will be invaluable.
I don’t think anyone is arguing against reliance. One might argue that the city and the SFFD are not pursuing resilience in the most effective way.
Fire engines have paramedics on board with rescue training as well to deal with psych emergencies. It is the engine that will arrive faster than an ambulance since fire stations are spread throughout the city at any given time.
Fire station crews live the the station for minimum 24hrs unless there is mandatory overtime in which case a firefighter is often forced to make last minute arrangements with their spouses.
Firefighters buy their own groceries and cook their own food, in between calls, they conduct drills, bldg inspections, and run school fire education programs to name a few things. All non-fighting equipment in the station such as TVs BBQ weights etc, are purchased by the members of that station and not by city.
You see firefighters taking a few minutes getting coffee in the morning, what you may not see are the hundreds of SFFD firefighters volunteering their off-days, with the Toy Program which does much more than just give out toys during holidays. Or maybe you haven’t noticed our NERT program, or our many volunteer associations working with community based programs. Or how our union donates to many grass-roots city programs.
If paying for these services upsets some of you, I suggest that you move to rural unincorporated area of California where you can provide your own emergency service(s).
And yes, I am one of these selfish overpaid firefighters to which some of you refer.
Miguel, thank you risking your life to serve and protect our great city!
UPDATE: Floating Fire Station (Even) Closer to Reality on San Francisco’s Bay