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Fire commission hears detailed administration report on training, wellness and station projects
Summary
Deputy Chief Jose Wurst presented the administration's August report, highlighting recruit classes, active-shooter and officer training, succession planning, station projects and a restored wellness program with roughly $300,000 in annual funding.
Deputy Chief Jose Wurst delivered the San Francisco Fire Department administration report for August 2019 on Sept. 25, outlining training efforts, succession planning, station projects and plans to restore a wellness program for firefighters.
Wurst said the department is pursuing a permanent training facility site and coordinating multiple work groups formed in June to revise policies and procedures. He reported an active-shooter training program that began July 1 and, for August, trained 222 members and 549 total participants so far. Wurst also described recruit-class scheduling: the next recruit class begins Oct. 7, 2019, with projected graduation in February 2020 (the transcript's date rendering was unclear).
On staffing and advancement, Wurst said a Career Track Work Group will meet to design succession planning and rank requirements; he estimated 12'13 members on that work group and 15'20 total committees involved across divisions. The new training model will adapt State Fire Marshal curricula and align with NFPA standards, with the department training its own instructors to "train the trainers," Wurst said.
Wurst updated commissioners on station and capital projects: demolition work for the Station 35 pier was slated to begin Oct. 1 with phased parking-area work planned Oct. 8; construction on generator and apparatus-bay projects funded by earlier public-safety bonds is scheduled to start in 2020. He said the dept. visited a Ferrara factory to inspect new trucks, found fixable issues on the initial build and will correct those before continuing production.
Wurst announced a new health, safety and wellness chief (Chief Parks) to oversee a behavioral-health unit and described efforts to restore the health-check program while protecting members'private medical data. Director Mark Corsa later told commissioners the funding is in the department's general fund and is about $300,000 annually, intended to cycle members through the program roughly once every three years.
Commissioners asked about whether wellness checks would be mandatory; Wurst said the department will begin with a voluntary program and pursue broader participation, which could lead to a future mandatory requirement if needed. Commissioners also sought and received details on how new shift/tour schedules and a recent vacancy bid for Station 49 are intended to improve coverage.
The commission took a procedural vote to approve the Sept. 11, 2019 minutes (moved by Commissioner Ken Cleveland, seconded by Commissioner Michael Hardiman; motion passed). The meeting closed with scheduling items for upcoming October, November and December meetings.
The commission did not take further formal action on the administration report; commissioners requested more detail on committees and succession timelines in follow-up correspondence.
