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San Francisco Fire Department sees budget cuts, shifted resources and a busy July 4 weekend
Summary
Mayor-signed budget preserved uniformed positions but cut three civilian posts and eliminated a daytime quick-response unit; the department reported a surge of calls over July 4 and described longer-term staffing and station safety concerns.
Chief of Department Dean Crispin told the Fire Commission on July 9 that the city budget, signed by the mayor, spared cuts to uniformed firefighters but eliminated three civilian positions and removed one 24-hour quick-response vehicle (QRV) and one EMS 6 unit as part of savings measures.
The reduction will change how the department manages daytime calls, Crispin said. He told commissioners that the QRV removed served downtown corridors to relieve run volume on the busiest companies; the department left a nighttime QRV in service to cover late-night demand.
The changes come as the department described a busy Independence Day period. Crispin reported 563 total runs on July 4, including 25 grass fires, 23 trash fires, 31 fireworks-related calls and 10 fireworks-related injuries. The department recorded four “smoke in building” calls, one working fire, two code-3 transports and five code-2 transports on that day. The department also responded to a multiple shooting with five victims, one of whom was dead on arrival.
Deputy Chief Patrick Rabban told the commission that San Francisco has seen a sustained rise in calls: from June 30, 2023, to June 30, 2025 the department responded to 6,260 more calls for service. Rabban said the increase stresses an aging apparatus fleet and central shops for repairs. He also said outside fires remain a concern; the department responded to more than 400 outside fires in June, including an encampment fire that spread into tree crowns at Lands End on June 29.
Rabban described a major structure fire at 579 Fifth Avenue in the Inner Richmond that escalated to a four-alarm incident. He said fire spread rapidly through attic spaces and parallel attic lines in exposure buildings; initial crews and incident command actions prevented a larger conflagration. One firefighter suffered a knee injury; there were no civilian injuries at that incident.
Commissioners raised seismic-safety issues after an outside news story identified several fire stations as potentially seismically vulnerable, including Station 2 in Chinatown. Crispin said station rebuilding efforts have relied on the city’s earthquake bond program and that cost escalations have delayed some projects; he said the department is pursuing multiple funding options to rebuild unsafe stations.
Crispin and Rabban also described work with other agencies: the department completed auxiliary water testing with the Public Utilities Commission to assess friction loss for a portable hydrant system and reported that the airport division passed its annual FAA inspection. Rabban said a full-scale airport drill is scheduled for Sept. 17 at San Francisco International Airport.
Commissioners asked about operational effects of the cuts and how the department will manage added call volume for busiest engines downtown. Crispin said some companies could pick up three to four more daytime calls and that the remaining night QRV will help reduce the most health-degrading late-night calls.
The commission did not take formal action on the budget items at the July 9 meeting. The department said it will continue updates on staffing, donor-managed behested payments and capital plans for station replacement.
