By Linda Badger

The recent fires in Los Angeles have communities throughout California reassessing their fire preparedness.

San Francisco is particularly vulnerable to fires. According to a 2018-19 civil grand jury report; 90% of its houses are made of wood, with many directly abutting neighboring properties. After the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco was largely destroyed by fires that burned uncontrollably after gas lines ruptured and fueled fires, and the municipal water lines broke, preventing effective firefighting. What has San Francisco done to prepare for a fire emergency in our neighborhoods, and importantly, how can residents be prepared?

The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) expresses confidence that it “is prepared and ready to respond to all emergencies.” Moreover, 40 SFFD firefighters who deployed to Los Angeles returned with “fantastic knowledge,” and are working with their training division to teach others the lessons they learned from that disaster.

According to news reports, some hydrants in the Pacific Palisades ran dry, while others were too old and small to deliver sufficient high-pressure water for efficient firefighting. SFFD commented that it is vigilant, checking hydrants every month and reporting any deficiencies to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). The SFPUC confirmed that none of the older 2.5-inch, single-valve hydrants – like many of those in the Pacific Palisades – are on San Francisco streets. Further, “the SFPUC also has a preventative maintenance program to ensure all hydrants … are in good working order.”

In the past four months, SFPUC has “performed preventative maintenance” on over 3,000 of the City’s 8,500 hydrants connected to the municipal water system.

Reports also warned that some Los Angeles’ fire stations were significantly understaffed. The SFFD stated that it is “fully staffed,” with more than 1,800 employees, around 300 of whom are on fire suppression duty in San Francisco every day. There was also concern that Los Angeles had too few operational fire trucks when disaster hit. SFFD points out that San Francisco has 44 fire engines available to protect only 49 square miles, or a truck for every 1.1 miles.

Auxiliary Water Supply System

San Francisco also has an extra, and unique, firefighting resource: The “Auxiliary Water Supply System” (AWSS). Built to prevent the uncontained fires the City experienced in 1906, AWSS provides firefighters with multiple, redundant sources of high-pressure water, separate from the municipal water supply. With AWSS, San Francisco firefighters are less likely to run out of water should a single reservoir fail, as it did during the Palisades Fire.

AWSS’s underground pipes were built to be seismically stronger than municipal water pipes and deliver high-pressure water without the need for a fire engine. Water, stored high up in the Twin Peaks Reservoir, flows down into tanks below which feed into special hydrants on city streets. Bay water can also be pumped through the AWSS system, if all else fails. Unfortunately, AWSS does not extend beyond 12th Avenue in the Richmond or 19th Avenue in the Sunset. Although the City has considered expanding AWSS into these neighborhoods for decades, the cost has been deemed prohibitive.

Potable Emergency Firefighting Water System

As a more cost-effective alternative, the SFPUC is planning, designing and constructing a new “Potable Emergency Firefighting Water System,” in the Sunset and Richmond districts. To save time and money, this system will be built to upgrade the west side’s municipal water system while making it a more robust source of water for firefighting emergencies.

“This seismically resilient system will serve drinking water during normal operations but can switch to delivering water at high pressure from our drinking water system or from Lake Merced during emergencies,” according to a statement from SFPUC.

The agency noted that if non-potable water from Lake Merced had to be used in an emergency, the system is designed to isolate it from the drinking water supply, preventing contamination.

Part of the new system has been built in the Outer Sunset but most of the project is still in the design and planning stages, with construction to take place through 2040, if the SFPUC gets additional funding. These funds will be subject to voter-approved Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bonds in future elections, according to the SFPUC.

Other Water Sources

In the meantime, there are other firefighting resources in the Richmond and Sunset districts should the municipal water lines break. When the City received funding in 2010 and 2014 to build more cisterns (underground tanks filled with water), it buried half of them under the streets in the Sunset and Richmond districts. Currently, the Richmond and Sunset have 17 and 12 cisterns, respectively. Each cistern contains 75,000 gallons of water, or about an hour of continuous water for firefighting. Given that a typical four-alarm fire requires several hours of water supply, however, cisterns will likely be insufficient in a major event.

Firefighters can source additional water from lakes in Golden Gate Park. The purplish hydrants lining Fulton Street are connected to sources such as Blue Heron Lake and Spreckels Lake. In a pinch, SFFD also said that it is prepared to pump water from local pools, like those at the Jewish Community Center and Rossi Park.

To better access additional water sources, SFFD has been procuring powerful new “hose tender” trucks, which can pump high-pressure water from outside the municipal water system, including the Sunset Reservoir, Lake Merced or Spreckels Lake. Each hose tender carries 6,000 feet of five-inch hose and can be connected to each other to reach distant water sources. Two of the three new hose tenders recently purchased will be based in the Sunset District – one at Fire Station 18 located at 1935 32nd Ave. and the other at Station 22 at 1290 16th Ave.

Ocean water, which is abundant in the western neighborhoods, cannot be accessed by existing equipment. Water from the Bay, which can be drawn using fire boats, for example, is too far away to be used to fight fires in the Richmond or Sunset neighborhoods. According to the SFPUC, “Saltwater pump stations were evaluated but found to be cost-prohibitive and environmental/permit approval challenging.”

An additional risk faced by all districts is that many SFFD personnel live outside the City due to the high cost of housing. If bridges or roads are blocked during a disaster, off-duty firefighters might be delayed or prevented from reporting to their stations. In any event, first responders will likely be overwhelmed in any major disaster. Residents could be waiting for hours or even days to get help. For this reason, residents should be prepared to take care of themselves and their neighbors until emergency personnel can arrive.

Disaster Preparedness Training

The SFFD offers a free disaster preparedness training program, called the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team, or NERT (https://sf-fire.org/nert). By signing up for NERT training, San Franciscans can learn how to protect themselves and their families and organize neighbors on their block to help each other should a disaster hit.

Captain Brandon Tom, the program coordinator of NERT, has three basic tips for residents to prepare themselves for a fire emergency:

1) Create a go-bag: A backpack with essential items in case of an evacuation order.

2) Have enough food and water to shelter in place for 72 hours.

3) Create a plan: An escape plan, a meeting area plan, and a check-in plan.

Instructions from SFFD suggest that residents have “go bags” in multiple locations with essential and useful items in case of evacuation. Essential items are water (at least two quarts of drinking water for each person per day, for three or more days), a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher (with a pressure gauge), a flashlight (preferably not candles, which can cause fires), non-perishable food – for example, energy bars (three or more days’ worth per person) – and a can opener. Useful items to include are a radio (tuned to 88.5 FM, 1530 AM or 1740 AM), a cell phone charger, a sleeping bag or blankets, warm clothes, sturdy shoes and some cash (e.g., $100-$200 and some quarters). Medications, an extra pair of prescription glasses, hygiene products, a copy of important personal papers, baby and pet supplies are also important. (For detailed lists, see sf-fire.org/files/FileCenter/Documents/3568-Go%20Bag.pdf or sf72.org/supplies.)

Plan escape routes from your home or workplace. Designate two meeting places where you can gather with your family, one close to your home and another a safe distance away, should you have to evacuate. Also have your family agree on an out-of-state contact that everyone can call in case local cellular networks are congested or unreliable.

Suzanne Brown, a NERT coordinator, teaches residents crucial steps to take in the first hours following a disaster. To protect yourself and your family from physical harm, she suggests keeping a sturdy pair of shoes and hard hat under the bed, along with a pair of leather gloves. She noted that the most common injuries following a disaster are from broken glass.

Another step is to purchase an emergency gas shut-off wrench and know how and when to use it. According to NERT, 67% of house fires after a disaster are caused by ruptured gas lines. However, you should not turn off your gas unless you 1) smell it (a “rotten egg” smell), 2) hear it hissing from a leaking line, or 3) see it, by observing the dials on your gas meter spinning more rapidly than normal. Unless there is an actual fire, employ your wrench judiciously. It could take PG&E days to turn your gas back on after a disaster.

Brown also suggests that residents locate and label the main valve to shut off the water to their homes. If municipal water lines break, contaminated water could flow into your house. By turning the water off, your drinking water, including the 40 to 50 gallons in your water heater, will remain safe to drink.

Tom suggests all residents should get NERT training. Applications have skyrocketed since the Los Angeles fires. By signing up, applicants can prepare their families and neighbors for the critical hours following a disaster, before first responders can arrive. In these times, San Franciscans should be prepared to help each other.

If you are interested in being part of NERT, call 415-970-2024 or visit sf-fire.org/nert/join-us.