SFFD says purchase option would lock in $38.5 million price for proposed training campus; Mayor backing new street wellness teams

San Francisco's fire leadership reported progress this week toward a long-sought training facility and outlined several operational changes that could affect emergency services.

Chief of Department Janine Nicholson told the Fire Commission that legislation recently introduced at the Board of Supervisors, sponsored by Mayor London Breed and co-sponsored by Board President Shimon Walton, would allow the City to enter a purchase-option agreement with Prologis for property at 1236 Carroll Avenue. "The purchase option is $15,000 a month for up to 12 months," Nicholson said, adding the City would use the option period to complete regulatory reviews, including CEQA and state-lands approvals.

Nicholson said the option would lock the purchase price for the Prologis parcel at $38,500,000. "We are locked in to this purchase price, at $38,500,000," she told commissioners, and emphasized that the $15,000 option payment would not be applied to the final purchase price. She said the department must also acquire an adjacent parcel owned by the Port of San Francisco and clear state-lands and environmental review before it could close.

The chief and staff framed the purchase-option approach as a way to secure the site while the City completes complex approvals. Deputy Chief Jose Bello said the department is giving itself up to 12 months to conclude the regulatory process but hopes to close "early next year." Bello said both parcels are intended to close at the same time and that the $15,000 monthly option will allow the department the necessary time without drawing on its general fund.

Nicholson also updated the commission on the department's community-paramedicine efforts. She said the Mayor has proposed funding for a "street wellness response team" to complement the existing Street Crisis Response Team (SCRT). Assistant Deputy Chief Sandy Tong said the Binax point-of-care COVID test the department plans to use produces a result in about 15 minutes, and Tong described the SCRT rollout: the fourth SCRT unit began service on May 10 and the department aims for six units by the end of the fiscal year. The Mayor's proposed street wellness teams are separate funding, Nicholson said, and staffing for that program is expected to begin in January 2022 with a multi-unit rollout planned through that fiscal year.

Nicholson announced personnel changes and losses: Chief Mark Johnson, airport chief, will retire in June; the department is conducting succession planning for the fire marshal and airport chief positions; and she reported the sudden, tragic death of firefighter Steven Brantley, who collapsed the day he was to be married and whose organs were donated to others.

Why it matters: A training campus would centralize realistic live-fire and technical training and could influence recruitment, retention and operational readiness. The purchase-option structure locks a price and buys time for environmental and state approvals, but it still leaves open timeline, CEQA and state-lands uncertainties.

What's next: Nicholson said staff will return with more details as approvals move forward and that the commission will be briefed in coming months as the department seeks final purchase authority.

Direct quotes used in this article are drawn from the commission transcript and come from Chief Janine Nicholson and deputy chiefs who briefed the commission.