Here’s the latest news from San Francisco Firefighters Local 798…
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A Special Message to the People of San Francisco
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We love you,
but keep your distance.
We'll be here for you,
but for your sake and ours...
#StayHome
#FightCOVID19
#AloneTogether
For more information:
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Coronavirus Map: Tracking COVID-19 cases across California
Track the spread of coronavirus cases in the Bay Area and California and get live updates with The San Francisco Chronicle's exclusive map, the only comprehensive case tracker for the region.
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Coronavirus creates new challenges for Bay Area police, firefighters
In some ways, being a police officer in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood hasn’t changed a whole lot since the new coronavirus brought much of the city to a standstill. On many corners, drug dealers still sell deadly fentanyl and meth to a steady clientele. Officers from the Tenderloin police station still make arrests and use Narcan to revive addicts who overdose. Police still book dealers and confiscate weapons, and on Monday — even as San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued a shelter-in-place order — Tenderloin officers handcuffed two dealers in possession of heroin and meth, a knife and $1,648 in cash.
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Firefighters, EMTs, paramedics need supplies, says top firefighter
Jim Brinkley of the International Association of Fire Fighters says the country's first responders are in desperate need of supplies in order to do their jobs.
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Video courtesy of the SFFD
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1 Person Injured In Early Morning San Francisco Tenderloin Building Fire
One person was injured early Thursday when a 2-alarm fire broke out inside a Tenderloin building, authorities said. San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Jonathan Baxter said the fire was first reported at the two-story garage center and office space at 64 Golden Gate Ave. at 2:32 a.m. Crew raced to the scene and discovered a person suffering from moderate injuries. The fire victim was transported to the hospital for treatment.
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Video courtesy of @citizen_app
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Noe Valley House Fire
Fire Crews responded to a fire on 23rd Street in Noe Valley. Occupants were greeted outside by SFFD ambulance personnel.
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SFFD Crews Lack Thermometers to Self-Check for COVID-19
San Francisco officials have drafted an order for city firefighters and emergency operations staff to take their body temperature three times per shift to guard against the spread of the coronavirus – but so far the city cannot find the 100 extra thermometers crews need to do it. “When we called to get the thermometers it was literally, ‘We just ran out,’” said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman. He added, the department checked with city vendors, then state and federal caches, without success.
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Photo courtesy of the SFFD
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SF Crews Extinguish House Fire Started by Discarded Barbecue Embers
Fire crews responded Saturday afternoon to a one-alarm fire in San Francisco’s Excelsior District that was started by discarded barbecue coals, fire officials said. No one was injured or displaced in the blaze, reported about 2 p.m. at a two-story home in the 500 block of Athens Street, according to a Twitter post by the San Francisco Fire Department. The fire contained by 2:30 p.m. and deemed accidental, officials said.
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Photo courtesy of the SFFD
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San Francisco Firefighters Contain Early-Morning Blaze in Japantown
The cause of a fire early Sunday morning at a California Bank & Trust branch in Japantown is under investigation, the San Francisco Fire Department said via social media. The fire was reported shortly before 12:28 a.m. and was contained less than 10 minutes later.
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Photo courtesy of the SFFD
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Photo of the Week: 'Stay home - we got this'
This week's Photo of the Week comes from the San Francisco Fire Department, which is reminding residents to stay home as their paramedics work on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The department shared the panoramic photo on Twitter, saying, "Hey (San Francisco), stay home – we got this. We'll be out 24/7 delivering safety and life saving services to all." The post echos the #StayHomeforUs social media campaign first responders are using to tell the public to "help us help you" with proper precautions and social distancing.
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Bay Area Firefighters Taking Preventive Measures To Prevent Exposure To Coronavirus
Fire departments across the Bay Area were changing the way they operate at work and respond to calls, as they try to prevent exposure to the novel coronavirus. It’s a delicate balance for first responders to prevent exposure to the virus and continue to show up to work when the public needs them the most. “We are assuming when we show up, every call, every time could be a COVID patient,” said Sean Kaldor the president of the San Jose Fire Department’s IAFF Local 230.
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The CDC is advising cities like San Francisco to leave people living on the streets during coronavirus outbreaks if shelters cannot meet social distancing guidance
As the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, continues to spread, the nation's most vulnerable residents are even more at risk of contracting the contagious virus. San Francisco has taken steps to protect its homeless community, like searching for temporary housing in the city's unoccupied hotels to get people infected with the virus off the streets and setting up handwashing stations near homeless encampments. But new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide further direction on how to respond to the virus and its effects on unsheltered individuals in the US.
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Bay Area site opens for coronavirus test without doctor’s order, one of first in state
Within an hour after Hayward Fire Station 7 began offering free coronavirus testing at 9 a.m. Monday morning — one of the first free testing sites in California with no doctor’s order required — firefighters had screened nearly 300 people for symptoms, collected nasal cavity samples from about 20 of them and prepared to drive the samples across the bay to a lab. By 11 a.m., technicians and clinical laboratory specialists at Avellino Lab, the Menlo Park biotech company that is providing and processing the tests, was running samples through its diagnostic machines. Results were expected within nine hours — far faster than the several days many physicians’ offices are waiting for results for their patients.
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COVID-19 Coronavirus
As California grapples with the growing coronavirus outbreak, a key concern is how to protect people when the virus spreads in the broader region and how to support our community amidst all this change. KQED is covering the latest health, policy and economic news in the Bay Area and beyond. Follow our coverage
here
for the latest on what you need to know.
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How the coronavirus pandemic is crippling California's efforts to prevent catastrophic wildfires
California’s ability to prepare for a dry and potentially dangerous fire season this year is being crippled as the coronavirus pandemic prompts fire agencies across the West to cancel or delay programs aimed at preventing catastrophic wildfire. From clearing out undergrowth in forests to training firefighters to tamp out flames, local, state and federal fire forces are trying to move forward within new social distancing guidelines, as well as with potentially sick employees, but that’s making their work harder and sometimes impossible to do.
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Female firefighters exposed to cancer-linked chemicals
Female firefighters in San Francisco have higher concentrations of certain cancer-linked chemicals in their blood than women in other occupations, according to the first study to investigate how women in the profession are exposed to chemicals in the line of duty. When the San Francisco Fire Department suffered a shocking spate of breast cancers in 2012, it prompted a collaborative effort to investigate the exposure among women to hazardous chemicals, specifically chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. These “forever chemicals” can bioaccumulate in tissues and persist over lifetimes, and are linked to several types of cancers, including breast cancer, and other diseases.
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Remembering Our Fallen Brothers & Sisters
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Russ Edwards (Ret.)
Deceased: 3-11-20
Rank: H-30
John Donham, Jr. (Ret.)
Deceased: 2-4-20
Rank: H-20
John Pender (Ret.)
Deceased: 1-29-20
Rank: H-40
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Robert Korbus (Ret.)
Deceased: 1-27-20
Rank: H-50
James Nutley, Jr. (Ret.)
Deceased: 1-22-20
Rank: H-19
John Staudt (Ret.)
Deceased: 1-15-20
Rank: H-2
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George Kelson (Ret.)
Deceased: 1-11-20
Rank: H-2
Oliver Storti (Ret.)
Deceased: 12-7-19
Rank: H-50
Milford Patsel (Ret.)
Deceased: 12-2-19
Rank: H-30
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2018 SFFD Year in Review
We are proud to present the 2018 San Francisco Fire Department Year in Review photo book. Last year, our call load increased once again as San Francisco
Firefighters and Paramedics responded to more than 149,000 emergency calls for service across our City.
This publication was created to honor the hardworking men and women of the SFFD. It highlights the professionalism and dedication of our First Responders as we serve the public with pride. Click
HERE
to view the book.
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About Local 798
Local 798 is the labor organization of the proud men and women that serve as Firefighters and emergency medical responders protecting San Francisco. The members of the San Francisco Fire Department rely on Local 798 to focus on the wellbeing and safety of those that protect the lives of others. For more information, visit
www.sffdlocal798.org
.
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