At Friday’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee meeting, Supervisor Gordon Mar’s resolution declaring a State of Urgency to rapidly expand the City’s EFWS to protect all neighborhoods in the event of a major earthquake and fire received unanimous support.
The agenda of the SFPUC is not to provide a system using an inexhaustible supply of seawater, which is the only certain means by which the SFFD will be able to control post-earthquake fires, but rather to use Earthquake Bond money to slowly replace their antiquated and fragile drinking water mains.
After a Civil Grand Jury reported that large parts of San Francisco could burn to the ground after an earthquake if something is not done soon, four city supervisors and a state assemblyman have called the situation urgent and demanded action.
By Thomas K. Pendergast A recent Civil Grand Jury (CGJ) report has raised questions about post-earthquake fire protection after the next major temblor and whether firefighters will have enough water pressure to […]
Given the geology of Northern California, the history of San Francisco and a knowledge of urban conflagrations, it will be clearly understood that, in the absence of adequate post-earthquake emergency water supplies, the 138,000 wood-frame buildings and the 390,000 residents that occupy the fifteen neighborhoods not protected by the AWSS will fall victim to catastrophic loss,
Research shows California is one of the top 10 states with the most fatal home fires per capita. But now, California residents have a chance to help change behavior that could help to save lives in the event of a home fire.
… the Civil Grand Jury found that large parts of the City, such as the Outer Richmond, Outer Sunset and Bayview/Hunters Point districts, among others, do not have a high-pressure AWSS, and would be particularly vulnerable to fire damage when the next major earthquake strikes.
Someday another earthquake of the magnitude that hit San Francisco in 1906 is expected to strike again. A bond proposal to expand an emergency water system for fighting fires that will likely follow a massive quake was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
As a resident of the Inner Sunset, I am concerned about the potential fire hazard posed by the aging eucalyptus forest in the Mt. Sutro Open Space Reserve that is owned and managed by the UCSF Medical Center.
In response to the February article (Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon) on the use of both Lake Merced water and Sunset Reservoir water to fight post-earthquake fires in the Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset, it is gratifying to see that the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is finally willing to concede that the use of our drinking water alone will not enable the SF Fire Department (SFFD) to combat post-earthquake fires in hundreds of blocks of wood-frame housing.
On Tuesday, March 19, 12:30-3:30 p.m., San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD), in collaboration with Community Youth Center, Agape Community Center and Golden Gate Church, will hold a Community Safety Fair for members of the public.
Plans for San Francisco’s emergency firefighting water system have been expanded to include drafting water from Lake Merced, which could help the entire west side, especially since Sunset Reservoir water could be claimed by other peninsula water districts.
Thomas K. Pendergast, a reporter with the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers, was honored by the SF Press Club on Nov. 15 for his investigative reporting on the lack of water available for firefighting in San Francisco’s western and southern neighborhoods.
We can save 15 neighborhoods from catastrophic destruction if we demand that the AWSS be completed now, before a major earthquake strikes, by using the 2020 issue of the ESER bonds to finance it.
A new plan to expand the emergency water system for firefighting after a major
earthquake seems to be gaining support among San Francisco city officials,
but questions remain about options yet to be explored.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 