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Two bodies found under I-580

Two bodies were found at a homeless encampment near Lake Merritt in Oakland.

Dog owner tracks down stolen pooch

A dog owner whose dog was stolen from his SoMa apartment tracked down the alleged thief and got his...

Mayor Lee expands preschool access

Mayor Ed Lee said an expansion of San Francisco's preschool assistance program will give The City's parents the best...

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5 Comments

  1. just watch a few Youtube Video’s of SFFD in action and you can see problems…Especially arrogant Drivers and Pedestrians who refuse to give way to an Emergency Vehicle like they should…

  2. Supervisor Scott Wiener is the laughing stock of every fire fighter in San Francisco because he is willing to compromise public safety so that his developer friends can make money on various “street improvement” projects. These wasteful street “improvement” projects widen sidewalks and narrow streets down to single traffic lanes that prevent fire fire trucks from turning and passing as they were intended to.

    A key reason why fire trucks are large is firefighter safety, especially the move to enclosed cabs in the mid-1990s. The safety features added more weight to the vehicles, which meant they needed heavier suspensions and better brakes, which added even more weight. New federal emission standards also led to bigger exhaust systems, which required longer wheel bases.

    An average size ladder [truck] can be almost 12 feet tall and 40 to 45 feet long’’ and weigh more than 60,000 pounds. By comparison, a similar vehicle built in 1985 would be 11 feet high, 35 feet 4 inches long, and weigh about 38,000 pounds.

    Fire truck have gotten bigger, because firefighters have to carry more equipment. Every fire truck has an extensive amount of first aid equipment, Jaws of Life equipment, exposure suits for water rescue, blocking for technical rescue work.

    When the fire broke out in mission bay last year the city needed every truck in the city plus our backup water supply to put out the fire. Supervisor Wiener isn’t telling Google or Genentech to buy smaller buses for public safety. http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/08/05/stranded-tech-bus-blocking-j-church-muni-line-in-san-franciscos-noe-valley/

    Narrow streets impose permanent, 24-hour delays to emergency response, unlike traffic
    congestion which occurs periodically. Supervisor Wiener should be looking out the best interest of his constituents. Instead he is looking out for the best interest of
    developers who are re-designing streets to impede emergency vehicles from function as they should.

    • Not good in the long term,,,Diesel is still the way to go..Hybrid engines are two small and do not develop the Horsepower needed to power a 2000 gallon per minute pump through 4 Hoses of different sizes for up to 5 hours or more at a time or up to the top of a three story residential building…..The trucks meet current EPA standards…