SFFD reports multiple greater-alarm fires, confined-space rescue and staffing improvements

Deputy Chief Robert Postel presented the departments February operations report to the Fire Commission on March 9, recounting multiple significant incidents and staffing developments.

Postel reported 16 working fires during the month and three greater alarms. He highlighted a Feb. 3 second alarm at 3036 16th Street that affected a 26-unit building (9 units impacted, 24 people displaced) and a Feb. 12 third alarm at 324 Tenth Avenue that extended through multiple buildings and displaced 10 people. Postel praised crews and named assistant chiefs who served as incident commanders for each event.

He described a confined-space rescue at a vegetation encampment under a freeway near Glen Park BART, where crews made a confined-space entry and recovered four people; one person did not survive. Postel characterized confined-space entries as high-risk, specialized operations that trigger additional legal requirements and specialized squad responses.

A separate fire at 1212 Turk Street on Feb. 25 involved multiple victims: three people were rescued and one succumbed to smoke inhalation. Postel credited off-duty personnel and nearby station staff for rapid action during the shift change that aided rescue efforts.

Postel also reported EMS call volumes are returning toward a roughly 300-calls-per-day level, noted the start of H3 level classes (paramedic training) and the first H3 Level 2 paramedic cohort since 2010 with 19 members, and said a 3- to 4-month study with an outside firm will analyze response-time impacts.

Commissioners asked technical and staffing questions about trucks, vertical ventilation, radio communications and confined-space rescue protocols; Postel and other chiefs provided operational explanations and said recent radio channel changes to direct tactical channels were implemented to improve fireground communication.