SFFD reports staffing, training facility plans and behavioral-health outreach

At the Aug. 23 Fire Commission meeting the San Francisco Fire Department outlined staffing and training priorities, behavioral-health unit activity and infrastructure planning.

Chief Janine Nicholson highlighted interagency coordination for upcoming large-scale events such as APEC and thanked command staff for recent outreach and the meritorious awards ceremony. She said the department will continue following up with the Department of Public Health and the city’s homelessness office to remove barriers to care.

Deputy Chief Shane Kayaloha presented July administrative figures and program updates. Kayaloha said an internship with Mission High School produced six students who progressed toward EMT training, noted 81 BHU contacts totaling roughly 313.67 hours for the month of July, and said the department is moving from a Cortico health app to a new Lighthouse app for analytics and wellness tracking (members may opt out of analytics).

Kayaloha also summarized fleet and facilities work: 150 service requests were initiated in July, 122 service orders completed, four new mini pumpers were placed in service and one quick-response vehicle was issued. He said contracts for a fire training facility have been approved and will move to the Board of Supervisors and that the next department bond is not likely until 2028.

Commissioners asked about head injuries, onboarding efficiencies, background-packet revisions and how to blend incoming recruits with retiring personnel to preserve institutional knowledge. The department described a new background packet and faster processing for onboarding and said promotion and workers’ compensation statistics for July included 39 return-to-work modified duty cases and 62 workers’ compensation claims filed.

The commission did not take separate binding action on the training facility at the meeting; Kayaloha said the matter is proceeding to the Board of Supervisors for final approval of contracts.