San Francisco Fire Commission honors retired SFFD members Jim Gallagher and Tony Stefani

The San Francisco Fire Commission on June 25 honored retired San Francisco Fire Department members Jim Gallagher and Tony Stefani for long careers and continuing contributions to firefighter health and fitness.

The commission presented Gallagher and Stefani with plaques and public remarks from Chief of Department Dean Crispin and President Marcy Frazier. The recognition cited Gallagher’s decades of work organizing the department’s interstation run — later renamed the Jim Gallagher Interstation Competition — and Stefani’s founding in 2007 of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation after he and other department members were diagnosed with cancer.

Jim Gallagher, who joined the department in 1962 and later earned advanced degrees while teaching locally, said he was “honored and flabbergasted” to receive the award and credited many colleagues who helped sustain the interstation run. Tony Stefani, a 28-year veteran who retired as captain of Rescue 1, described the foundation’s mission of early detection and prevention for active and retired firefighters and said the nonprofit has benefited from community and union support.

Chief Crispin noted the department’s respect for history and traditions and invited other retired members in the audience to stand. President Frazier thanked the honorees and described their lives as “inspirational” examples for the department.

The commission held the recognition as part of its regular meeting; there were no formal votes tied to the awards. The meeting continued with other agenda items after brief public comments and a photo with commissioners and honorees.