Resources
The Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, 2025.
AP Photo/Ethan Swope
67 Fire Officials: Open Letter to San Francisco Mayor London Breed
San Francisco Fire Department, Retired:
Mario Trevino, Chief of Department
Harold Gamble, Deputy Chief
Frank Cardinale, Assistant Deputy Chief
Paul Chin, Assistant Deputy Chief […]
The Richmond Review, August 2021
SFPUC Bureaucrats Think the City’s Supply of Drinking Water Should Be Used To Fight Post-Earthquake Firestorms on San Francisco’s West Side...
As retired San Francisco Fire Department Chief Officers, Captains, Lieutenants, and Firefighters, we believe that it is our responsibility to emphatically state the following in the interest of public safety:
It is completely irrational to assume that drinking water from municipal reservoirs will be adequate to reliably supply a high-pressure, high-volume citywide hydrant system, like the Auxiliary Water Supply System, for fighting multiple simultaneous fires following a major Bay Area earthquake.
Civil Grand Jury Reports
Civil Grand Jury for the City and County of San Francisco
2018–2019 Report
Act Now Before It Is Too Late: Aggressively Expand And Enhance Our High-Pressure Emergency Firefighting Water System
Even though City leaders have known about this issue for decades, the City still does not have concrete plans or a timeline to provide a more robust emergency firefighting water supply for all parts of the City that need one.
2002–2003 Report
Keeping the Faucets Flowing: Water Emergency Preparedness in San Francisco
A SFPUC study in 2000 concluded that it might be unable to supply water to its customers for up to 60 days following an earthquake. Nonetheless, SFPUC has no present plan for, and disclaims responsibility for, obtaining water from an alternative source should SFPUC be unable to supply water in an emergency.
Explainers
Dick Morten
Vote NO on Prop A
For over two decades, I have advocated for expanding the Auxiliary Water Supply System, an unlimited saltwater supply for firefighting. Proposition A falls well short of an unlimited citywide water supply, relying on drinking water.
Don’t fall for the “promises” in Proposition A. VOTE NO!
Doug Chan
Don’t Rely on Drinking Water to Fight Catastrophic Fires
I have ancestors whose home and Dupont Street business were destroyed when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake scoured Chinatown from the landscape.
Socializing the Costs While Privatizing the Benefits
While life-saving water infrastructure remains unfunded for the westside, voters are being asked to authorize debt where “$200 million (38%) of which will go to a SFMTA Muni Bus Facility.” Combining disparate projects like water infrastructure and transit depots into a single measure is a common legal strategy to pass unpopular items.
Judge Quentin Kopp (Retired)
Expand The City’s Emergency Water System Before It’s Too Late
San Francisco lost a dedicated public servant in September, and I lost a good friend, whom I’d known for many decades. Frank Blackburn was a retired San Francisco Fire Department division chief who had a huge effect on The City’s level of fire safety during his 35 years as a firefighter.
Fire Analysis: Assistant Fire Chief Frank Blackburn
Assistant Fire Chief Frank Blackburn, Retired
Lessons from Los Angeles and the 2025 Palisades Fire
There has been a persistent conflict of interest since the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) first acquired the Auxiliary Water Supply System (AWSS) high-pressure hydrant system from the San Francisco Fire Department in 2010.
Why 15 Residential Neighborhoods Will Be Destroyed by Fire Following the Next Great Bay Area Earthquake
As a student of San Francisco History, and a 35 year veteran of the SFFD, I have long been aware that some 15 residential neighborhoods in the City, with their hundreds of blocks of wood frame buildings, will be highly vulnerable to fire in the immediate aftermath of the next big earthquake.