Day 12, March 24, 2009

Overnight they had a pretty good working fire in San Ramon, in San Mateo County, involving a well-involved SFD around 0400 hours. They had live coverage of the extensive damage at the scene on the local news this morning,

I took my time getting out on the street this morning. I spent some time catching up on the recent posts to Firepics.net – there were two entire pages of apparatus postings that I hadn’t looked at yet. I hit the streets around 0900 hours and headed to the San Francisco shops. I drove by SFFD Station 17 on the way in, but the engine was out and the truck was a difficult shot.

I went to see SFFD Shop Foreman Michael Braun, who has always been very kind and helpful. We had a nice chat as we looked around the apparatus yard. Michael said they’ve recently cleaned up the yard. Boy have they ever cleaned up the yard! There were only two reserve TDA’s out in the yard and they are selling one of those. Normally you’d see anywhere from 10 to 15 miscellaneous rigs out in the yard.

The SFFD has three Spartan/LTI aerials on order and they are about to put out bids (again) for 5 or 6 engines. Crimson was the low bidder the last time, but Pierce was very close. That bid had to be thrown out for some reason. He didn’t go into details. Since the SFFD started responding to EMS calls a few years back, the rigs have really been taking a beating.

I was told the Spartan/3D engines are holding up pretty well, but they have some 1991 models still in first-line service. The Spartan/LTI TDA’s have been holding up well also he said, but they still have 1991 models in first-line service also. Michael would like to see a replacement program with rigs being in first-line service for 10 years and then 5 more years as reserves. They have been having all kinds of problems with the ten ALF Eagle engines. They have not held up very well at all, yet the two ALF Squads they bought a couple years before have been very dependable. Michael said the three HME/Ferrara short-wheelbase pumpers have also been dependable. They’d like to see more of those in the fleet as they’d probably reduce some of the accidents they’re having with the longer wheel-base models.

Michael printed me off an up-to-the-minute apparatus roster for the SFFD. I asked Michael if he’d like a copy of the Excel spreadsheet that I have researched from Rich Schneiders history of SFFD company assignments, my info I’ve gathered over the years visiting here, and from apparatus lists I’ve been trading with others (most notably Bill Friedrich). He said he’d love to have a copy and gave me his e-mail address so I could e-mail it to him (which I did late this afternoon).

I called Phil Reid from the shops and he said he had an errand to run, but to meet him at his home up in the hills (not far from Twin Peaks). As it was about 1030 hours, I decided to drive by SFFD Station 7 (training tower area also) to see of any rigs were there. I found Engine 23, Truck 10 (using a reserve), Truck 18, and Rescue 2 (not a good shot) out in the training yard. I got shots of those and headed to Station 36 to see of I could get a photo of their new Haz Mat rig. When I got to Station 36 and saw the traffic, I knew there was no chance of getting a shot as there is no ramp at all in front.

I headed up into the hills towards Phil’s condo. It was a beautiful sunny day here today with highs in the mid 60s. Phil invited me in to see his place. He has a very nice condo unit with a spectacular view out his living room, bedroom and dining room windows. It was clear enough that we could see across the bay into a mountain in Contra Costa County. Phil showed me his collection of fire-related books and his collection of fire models.

Then Phil drove to a very nice restaurant across the street from the bank that he used to manage before he retired. He treated me to lunch and we had a nice conversation. Phil gets around a lot and has a wealth of knowledge from his many buffing trips around the country. We compared notes on many departments. Phil does not have a computer, so I can’t send him my daily reports.

We went back to Phil’s place and talked for quite awhile. I thanked Phil and headed out to check a few stations he had suggested for photos on the way back towards “South City.” When I left Phil’s condo I headed to Station 11 to get a shot of one of their Centennial (the Great SF fire) 1906-2006 ALF pumpers. It is next to impossible to get photos of apparatus in San Francisco unless you catch them at a fire (or at training). Very few stations have any ramps in front of the station. Station 11 is one of the few that does. I got a fair photo of Engine 11’s ALF. I also wanted a shot of one of the three HME/Ferrara pumpers.

I drove by Station 7 on the way to Station 32, in the south end of the city. The same rigs from the morning were still there with no better shots that I had earlier. When I got to station 32, the shot was not a good one because of the shade (and no ramp of course), but the Captain pulled the rig out for me briefly so I could get a shot. The fire radio in San Francisco today was very, very quiet. I don’t think I even heard one full assignment go out. It’s sure not like the old days!

It was getting towards rush hour, so I found my way down off the hill and headed out the 101 to South San Francisco. I wanted to get a shot of their new heavy rescue. Just before I got to the station, I saw the engine driving down the street, followed by a medic unit. When I got to the station there were no firefighters left in quarters. I’ll try and get there first thing in the morning tomorrow, before I head up to Cloverdale to visit with my brother.

I may not be able to send daily reports for the four days I’m in Cloverdale. I don’t know if Verizon has 3G service in that area or not. My brother may have another way for me to connect to the internet. If nothing else, maybe I can drive down into Santa Rosa (25 miles south) and send a report through my cell phone there (they probably have 3G there). So if you don’t hear from me for a few days you’ll know why.

I plan to hit a number of stations in Marin County on the way up to Cloverdale tomorrow. I probably will not do a lot of buffing from Cloverdale. Maybe I’ll do some shooting in Santa Rosa one day. That’s it from here. It’s been extremely quiet (firewise) in the area. Phil told me that San Francisco has only had five extra alarms so far this year. In the old days they’d have had about 30 by now he said.