San Francisco Firefighters say

MainLine 

SAN FRANCISCO FIREFIGHTERS 

MOU Negotiation 

p 4 

S o f t b a l l , B o w l i n g 

B o c c e , S h o o t i n g 

& w o r l d f a m o u s 

c h i l i c o o k o f f 

p8 

The passing of 

Ed Cummings 

The union Defends members 

a g a i n s t I l l e g a l 

investigation p30 

SF Firefighters 

Rescue stranded 

Siberian Tiger p1 

Members come together 

to show support for 

Proposition b p12 

l 

l 

m a y / j u n e 

2010 

l 

l

Tony walked down a flight of 

stairs into a shaded moat. He 

usually walks back up within 

a d ay o r t w o . B u t after 

several days i n t h e m o at . . . 

z o o officials decided t o call 

t h e Sa n F r a n c i s c o F i r e 

D e pa r t m e n t f o r assistance.

TigerRescue 

San Francisco 

Firefighters 

By: Patricia Lui 

If you have ever been to the zoo, you have probably 

waved hi to Tony, a 360lb Siberian Tiger. He is 18 years 

old but to you and I, that's 90 human years. San 

Francisco experienced a week of unusual warm weather 

in March. To shade himself from direct sunlight, Tony 

walked down a flight of stairs into a shaded moat. He 

usually walks back up within a day or two. But after 

several days in the moat and unsuccessful attempts by 

Zoo keepers to lure him up the stairs, zoo officials 

decided to call the San Francisco Fire Department for 

assistance. This 'rescue' was especially time sensitive 

because of the heavy rains forecasted for the next day. 

After a thorough assessment of the situation by 

Battalion Chief James Blake, Members of Truck 19, 

Rescue 2, Battalion 8, and San Francisco Zoo Animal Staff 

( Teamsters Local 856 ), a plan was put together to bring 

the Tiger to safety. 

The first course of action was to tranquilize the tiger. 

From a distance, zoo keepers were successful with their 

attempt. Zoo keepers checked to make sure Tony the 

Tiger was stable. The SFFD then used webbing to lash 

Tony the Tiger to a large board. The tiger was then 

hoisted using a Z-rig with a change of direction. 

The San Francisco Zoo was extremely grateful for the 

assistance from fellow union members of The San 

Francisco Fire Department. 

Executive Board 

President 

THomas O’connor 

Vice President 

Joseph Moriarty 

Secretary 

Jim Vannucchi 

Treasurer 

Shon Buford 

Contents 

Letter From the President 

Station Stewards 

Danny Gracia 

Member’s Rides 

Floyd K. RollinsIII 

Steve Giacalone 

Scholarship Winners 

Last Alarm 

Main LIne 

may/june 2010 

Directors 

Stephen Giacalone 

Danny Gracia 

Floyd Rollins II 

Michael A Walsh 

Keith Onishi 

Design Editor 

Adele White 

4 

6 

8 

9 

13 

15 

17,20 

25

Letter From The President 

Letter From 

the President 

Tom O’Connor, President 

As we move toward the deadline of our 

newsletter, many issues we face are still 

unresolved. Our MOU re-opener must be 

voted on, election day is just days away, 

and our political enemies are striving to 

find ways to thwart the Mayor’s budget. 

Below you will find a brief overview of 

these issues, although some of them will 

already be resolved by the time this issue 

of “The Mainline” is delivered. 

MOU 

The negotiation team of your Union 

has just concluded bargaining with The 

City in regards to the re-opening of the 

MOU. It was a process we did not want 

to go through because as many of you 

stated, “we have a closed contract.” For 

the most part, all of us agree with that 

statement. However, in extraordinarily 

difficult times like these, with the City of 

San Francisco facing a $500 million dollar 

deficit, it was impossible to take a raise. 

The political costs would have been too 

high, with firehouse closures hanging in 

the balance. 

What the bargaining team did was 

structure our giveback in such a manner 

that ensures Proposition F is adhered to. 

The MOU has 4 “Compliance Periods” 

lasting 6 months, and if at any point in 

time a firehouse is closed or browned 

out…you receive the raise that you have 

deferred and the giveback is cancelled. 

The MOU concessions simply roll back 

each scheduled raise by one year, allow 

previous givebacks to return as scheduled 

and extends the contract for another 

year until 2013. The extension protects 

us in several ways, the most important of 

which is preserving our workweek. 

While most of us bridle at yet another 

round of givebacks and concessions, we 

can look fellow San Franciscans in the eye 

and tell them we did our part when the 

City asked for help…again. We can also 

tell them something critically important 

when certain politicians seek to demonize 

us in the press… we care so much 

about public safety we were willing to 

reach into our own pockets to help pay 

for it. 

Politics 

This issue of “The Mainline” will have 

reached everyone after June 8th, but 

that will have been a pivotal day for us. 

Proposition B, the earthquake retrofit and 

safety measure, will have already been 

4 Main Line www.sffdlocal798.org 

Citywide other 

unions are amazed 

at how involved 

our members are, 

how educated our 

members are, and 

how united we are 

on the multitude of 

issues we face. 

voted on and hopefully have passed. The 

threshold for victory is high, over 2/3 

approval, but the rewards will be great 

politically. If the measure passes, the 

Board of Supervisors will be hard pressed 

to go after the Fire Department budget… 

after all, why fix a firehouse if no one is in 

it? That would be difficult to explain to 

your constituents. 

We also have two firefighter candidates 

running for the Democratic County 

Central Committee, Dan Dunnigan and 

Keith Barraka. This seemingly insignificant 

committee actually holds great power 

in setting policy in San Francisco and it 

is critical for the fire department to get 

a place at the table. Both Dunnigan and 

Barraka have been campaigning hard and 

regardless of the outcome of their races, 

we need to thank both of them for their 

efforts. 

Lately our political efforts have also 

been moving ahead full speed in City 

Hall. Your Union has been engaging in an 

attempt to educate the Supervisors as to 

how efficient the SFFD is, and how little 

‘‘‘‘

we actually cost the General Fund. We 

have continually cost less and less to the 

General Fund, roughly 3% currently, and 

we have nearly doubled our run volume 

in the last 15 years. Name another City 

agency that can make the same claims… 

We have also reduced our on-duty staffing 

while other City departments have grown 

significantly. Again, name another City 

department that can make the same 

claim… 

Budget Cuts 

As our deadline approached for this 

magazine, the Mayor’s budget was just 

delivered and on the face of it, the cuts 

were not as bad as once feared. The 

wage concessions by every union in the 

City played a very, very important role 

in protecting basic City services and balancing 

the budget. What remains to be seen 

though, is how the Board of Supervisors 

will try and dismantle the budget to fund 

their personal political issues. With 

virtually all City employees giving back 

wages this year, it will prove very difficult 

for the Supervisors to vilify certain groups 

and blame them for the budget deficit. 

However, you can be sure certain 

politicians will find a way… 

Moving Forward 

The most important thing to reflect on 

in our current state of affairs is that our 

union is quite strong. Turnout for meetings 

has been fantastic, the turnout for 

our upcoming vote on the MOU should 

be great, and everyone’s participation in 

our various political doorhanger drops 

has been phenomenal. Citywide other 

unions are amazed at how involved our 

members are, how educated our 

members are, and how united we are on 

the multitude of issues we face. If we can 

continue in this manner, we should be 

very strong for years to come… 

Tom O’Connor elected President May 8, 2010 

The INside Box Box#6346 579 Oxford Street, April 8, 2010 

Keith Onishi sworn in as new Director May 8, 2010 

Roscoe the Union Hall Watchdog

2010 Station 

S t e w a r d s 

Station Stewards Luncheon 

Station 1 Michael Quinn 

Station 2 Carla Bisio Murphy 

Station 3 Chris Salas 

Station 5 Tom Fogle 

Station 6 Michael Horta 

Station 7 Jose Zalba 

Station 8 Ramon Serrano 

Station 9 Christina Gibbs 

Station 10 Sherman Tillman 

Station 11 Ben Canedo 

Station 12 Thomas Haney 

Station 13 Pat D’Arcy 

Station 14 Bruno Walther 

Station 15 Bill Madsen 

Station 16 Patric Steele 

Station 17 Huckleberry Ramsay 

Station 18 Dan Tauber 

Station 19 Amy Swanson 

Station 20 Eileen Needham 

Station 21 Steve Finnegan 

Station 22 Open 

Station 23 Ken McCarthy 

Station 24 Nicholas Holl 

Station 25 Kinnie Jamerson 

Station 26 Randy Hendricks 

Station 28 Jason Woo 

Station 29 Bridget Cullinane 

Station 31 Marcella Mc Cormack 

4.14.10 

Station 32 Dawn Rosales 

Station 33 Robert Lopez 

Station 34 Jana Wakefield 

Station 35 Jean Pinto 

Station 36 Fred Putt 

Station 37 Dave Amituanai 

Station 38 Dean Whittaker 

Station 39 Michael Moynihan 

Station 40 Janice Hoaglin 

Station 41 Christian Murphy 

Station 42 Mike Guajuardo 

Station 43 Rob Mello 

Station 44 Nathan Shapiro 

Station 48 Nancy Barsotti 

Station 49 Scott Hellesto 


Jared Cooper 

AP 1 Terry Woo 

AP 2 Romelia Scott 

AP 3 Ellen Stein 

BFI Laura Kelly 

BFP Tom Harvey 

Joe Cuff 

Brian Ballard 

BOE Al Harvey 

HQ Open 

RADIO Open

Publishers Note: 

All members in good standing 

Unfortunately we have open 

positions for Station Stewards. 

The Station stewards are one of 

the most important links in the 

Union Chain. Let us try to fill 

these gaps. Please contact the 

Union Hall if you are interested. 

www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 7

Letter From the Director 

Letter From 

the Director 

Danny Gracia, Director 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

When our last issue was sent to print 

and distributed, we had all been discussing 

the possibility of potential givebacks or 

deferrals of wages and even brownouts/ 

closures of our firehouses. As I write 

these words in early June, we are just 

about finished with the final language 

of our contract re-opener that will be 

brought before the Membership to vote 

on. The vote will be held after discussing the 

parameters of the deal with the members and 

the Executive Board so that each 

individual will be able to make an 

informed choice in true democratic fashion. 

I feel that the Executive Board has done a 

good job of bringing forward the members’ 

concerns, ideas, and overall best interest 

to the negotiating table with The City. As 

all of you are probably aware, The City 

keeps telling us how bad this financial 

situation is (like always) but after attending 

many, many P.E.C. meetings and listening 

to an outside economist’s review of the 

deficit numbers, it seems to be true. 

You are all also aware that The City 

has a spending problem, and in the P.E.C. 

meetings that was pointed out numerous 

times by many members of the Coalition. 

At first, The City did not want to discuss 

the Non Profits and the Personal Service 

Contracts, but eventually some progress 

...it took years for all these 

special groups to get to 

where we are now, so it 

will take years to make 

th e c i t y accountable for 

redundant funding of programs 

with no oversight. 

was made. I will not go into much further 

detail on these issues except to say that it 

took years for all these special groups to 

get to where we are at now, so it will 

take years to make the city accountable 

for redundant funding of programs with 

no oversight, some of which are not even 

based in San Francisco (no way). 

Let me just sum up the 

M.O.U re-opener with a 

few simple facts 

iPeople that work for The City will be 

laid off; 

iMost City employees took at 4.62% 

pay cut over 2 years; 

iThe $480 million deficit this fiscal 

year is real; 

iPeople who use Muni and other City 

services have seen cost increases and 

service cuts, with possibly more of the 

same to come; 

iOur re-opener with The City extends 

our contract and all of its tremendous 

existing language, as well as protects 

Prop F and members who retire during 

the life of this Agreement. 

Now, I know that we did not cause these 

things to happen, however, that doesn’t 

mean that we can’t help find a solution 

while still preserving the great benefits 

we enjoy (which are well deserved 

and hard fought for). Good luck to Keith 

Baraka and Dan Dunnigan running for the 

D.C.C.C. and let’s hope Measure B passes. 


Let’s get to the social 

section of this document 

First, Softball will be over by time 

this goes to press and there will be a 

championship team for the 2010 season. 

This season was made very difficult by a 

seemingly unending rainy season (starting to 

think global warming might not be real). 

Thanks to Steve Engler for keeping the 

season moving forward despite the 

conditions (Steve, you still owe us $2.19 

for the By-Laws). 

We wanted to do a Bowling Tourny in 

May, but the contract just consumed 

most of our time so perhaps we can do 

one in July. 

Please attend our 1st Annual Shoot & BBQ 

on June 19, 2010 which we hope will raise 

some funds for the Toy Program (see Ad). 

All are welcome. 

We have the Chili Cook-Off date for 

9/25/10 at the same location as last year. 

Let’s make this year’s even better! 

Sounds like we are pretty much back in 

for a Bocce Tourny in October of this year 

(Attention Recycling Centers) if anyone 

wants to volunteer to help out with any 

of these events please contact the Hall. 

Have a good summer. Stay safe. 

D.G. 

P.S. As we go to press, we are still 

waiting for the final decision/report 

and recommendation regarding the 29 

members that were interviewed about 

the Post Street fire from 10/14/09… more 

to follow. 

P.P.S.: As far as I know, we are still the 

only fire department in the country that 

has not had a brown-out in this economic 

crisis (Engine 35 does not count because 

Prop F states firehouse construction/repairs 

are valid for closure).

the Local 798 automobile association presents 

Jim Babich AP#2 

1960 

Chevy 

Corvette 

327 V8 Engine 

4sPD Trans./posi. 

Jeff Schaadt 

1963 Impala SS 409 numbers 

matching. Power glide transmission. 

Rebuilt engine. Stock with some 

exceptions: 

- four wheel disc brakes 

- custom signed Billet wheels 

- custom steering wheel 

- Rochester carburetor 

- minor engine chrome 



Firefighters of Sonoma 

County welcome 

you and yours to 

our 5 t h t r i p t o 

t h e beautiful 

Coachella Valley. 

Embassy Suites in 

Palm Desert 

$550 per person 

Double occupancy with two queen 

beds or one king 

Price Includes 

5 nights lodging in a two room suite. 

Daily cooked to order breakfast. 

Daily two hour complimentary 

cocktail party. 

Welcome dinner at the hotel on 

Sunday night. 

Final night awards banquet at LG’s 

Prime Steakhouse. 

100% Prime cuts. 

Pool, spa, fitness center, six tennis 

courts. 

MAH JONGG Instructions and play 

time. Bring your bones. 

PALM SPRINGS 

N O V 1 4 - 1 8t h 2010 

Golf 

$330 PER PLAYER 

Men’s tournament: a 3 day low net 

with 3 to 5 flights, depending on the 

number of players. 

Women’s tournaments: WWG (women 

with ghin) and WWOG (women 

without ghin). Price includes prize 

money and shotgun fee. 

Optional daily skins tournament. 

$60. Pay Ed Tatarian there. 

November 15 

TAHQUITZ CREEK Resort course. 

8:00 Shotgun 

Breakfast and lunch included. 

November 16 

TERRA LAGO South Course. 8:00 

Shotgun 

November 18 

CLASSIC COURSE 8:30 Shotgun 

Information 

WEDNESDAY ADVENTURE 

THE LIVING DESERT 

Bob Quattrin (707)823-8243 

Joe Collins (707)542-7797 

Woody Paynter (707)579-0325, 

John Logue (707)577-8850 

Gary Montague (707)576-1891 

John Ferrando (707)823-1228. 

Steve Christensen (707) 838-7966 

Mail Checks to: 

Chairman SFRFSC 

7980 Mitchell Ct. 

Sebastopol, CA 95472. 

DEPOSIT: Group room rates need 

to be reserved by APRIL 1 st . $300 

per person. After this date, room 

availability determined on receipt of 

deposit. 

BALANCE DUE by September 30 th . 

$250 per/person. ADD $330 for 

golf. 

Beginning at 9:00 AM see magnificent cats, howling wolves and many other animals and 

birds that live in the deserts of the world along with a state of the art animal hospital. See 

breath taking botanical gardens, the famous Palo Verde Garden Center and the 

largest G-model train displays in California. “GET CLOSER” is their motto and they mean 

it. Please, don’t pet the rattlesnakes. Shuttles are available all day. If you are interested, 

we must know by Sunday night’s dinner.

Retired Firemen 

and Widows Association 

Of the San Francisco 

Fire Department 

The Retired Firemen and Widows Association exists 

to keep retired firemen, spouses , and surviving 

spouses and dependents informed of the goings-on 

with the City, the Retirement Board, the Health 

Service System and any other situation that may be 

of importance. 

The Association meets bimonthly on the second 

Sunday of the month at St. Gabriel’s church at 41 st 

Ave and Ulloa St. at 2pm. The meetings usually last 

about an hour and we try to have a speaker present. 

Usually that person is a local politician, City 

Department representative or a person of interest. 

Refreshments are served after the meeting. There 

are no meetings in June, July and August. 

The Association sponsors two trips to Reno (March 

and October) and a Christmas luncheon. You have 

probably noticed our members at Local 798’s blood 

drives (check the board) and also at the Firefighter’s 

Toy Program. 

Dues to the Association are $10 a year per member or 

$100 for a lifetime membership. For further information 

contact Jim McCoy, President, at 650-291-7196. 

The inside Box 



Firefighters say: 

Yes onB 

Earthquake and Fire Safety for San Francisco 

12 Main Line www.sffdlocal798.org

Letter From the Director 

Letter From 

the Director 

Greetings Brothers and Sisters: 

Floyd K. Rollins III that, “Earth 

I greet you all fraternally and hope, as 

always, that this finds you and yours well 

and prospering. 

I was awakened the morning of Sunday 

May 30, 2010 by a phone call telling me 

of the passing of Brother Ed Cummings. Having 

known and worked with Ed my natural 

reaction was sadness about his passing. 

Ed was a dedicated and good Brother who 

always endeavored to perform his job in a 

dependable and professional capacity. Ed 

was also very talented in many ways and 

was always excited to share his renderings, 

be they musical or artistic, with me whenever 

we crossed paths. Ed could tell you 

about some of the most obscure 

sports statics that most professional 

sports commentators probably would not 

even know about. I have also heard many 

times that Ed was an athlete whose 

talents were known all around the city. 

As I thought more about Ed and who he 

was it is then that I decided not to be sad 

but to be thankful and grateful that God 

allowed me to be friends with a gentleman 

the caliber of Ed. Unfortunately we 

do not always think about things like that 

until a person has left this life. Ed was, and 

always will be, my friend. From myself 

and all of the members on the Executive 

Board of Local 798, we offer our heartfelt 

condolences to Ed’s family in their time of 

bereavement. Our thoughts and support 

also go out to Ed’s fire department 

family at Station 42. Always remember 

‘ 

Earth has no sorrow that 

heaven cannot heal. 

has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.” 

As of the writing of this article the 

campaign season is in full swing. We have 

been quite busy attending and hosting 

many events in support of Measure 

“B”, Keith Baraka, Dan Dunnigan, 

and the many other candidates and 

measures that we have an interest in. All 

of us down at the hall appreciate all of 

the support and work that you all have 

been doing. We can only ask for your 

continued support in all that is going on. 

Many of you know the countless hours of 

hard work that have gone into attaining 

what we have over the years. Be assured 

that those hours will continue to amass 

as the political pundits seem to want to 

line up to take aim at us. On that subject 

more to follow and more fights to come. 

The Board members have been visiting 

fire houses to discuss the details of 

the tentative MOU Re-opener agreement 

that we have reached with the 

city. 

Another tedious process has taken 

place at the negotiation table to make 

sure that all members are protected. 

We have also tried to build in as many 

protection mechanisms as possible should 

the Board of Supervisors decide to take 

aim at us again. These contingencies had 

to be memorialized in this agreement 

as some of our city officials seem to 

continue to use their public offices to further 

the agendas of their person favorite 

special interest. We will be attending all 

of the upcoming meetings to see what 

direction this process will take. Broth- 

ers and Sisters your interests will be 

represented! 

We have had a great number of 

responses to the request to sign up on 

our new website. Thanks to those who 

have signed up and please encourage your 

fellow station members to sign up. We 

are posting a lot of information as well 

as upcoming events on the site. Many 

people have commented that it is good 

to have a central location to go and get 

all of the info about what is going on. Log 

on and take a look and let us know what 

you think. Also if your house is having 

an event coming up that they would like 

to publicize then email us the details, or 

the flyer in PDF form, and we will get it 

posted. 

I will sign off by saying please remember 

that we are being watched even in 

places that we think we may not be. I 

know that the ladies and gentleman of 

this department are always professional 

and courteous when in public but just be 

mindful that people still feel compelled 

to snap photo’s of what they believe 

our actions to be and submit them to 

the administration with their personal 

and derogatory comments. I don’t know 

about you all but I am sure I could find 

many more important and meaningful 

things to be doing in my latter years rather 

than following people around and 

taking pictures. None the less they are 

out there and let me tell you their 

intentions are not for the good of the 

uniformed personal. 

Thanks for your time and as always … 

Keep the faith! 

www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 13 

‘Letter From the Director

Alyssa Zagrobski at 415-314-4040 


Letter From The Director 

Letter From the director 

Stephen V. Giacalone, Director 

Brothers and Sisters, 

Hello again! Another couple of months 

have gone by and much has been going 

on. 

First, we have our MOU negotiations 

with The City. The negotiating team has 

spent many many hours with The City 

and Department of Human Resources 

(DHR) trying to find some common 

ground in order to help The City and 

our fellow City employees. Fortunately, 

we have! We were able to come to an 

agreement that we believe protects and 

benefits our members while at the same 

time provides The City with the financial 

assistance it so desperately needs. 

Once again, this union and its members 

have been the responsible fiscal partners 

and “stepped-up”, “shared the pain” and 

made the “sacrifice” to help The City. 

Second, Measure B! I would like to 

thank all the members who gave up their 

personal time in the early morning on 

May 26th. It is always encouraging to 

see the membership be engaged in the 

Union. This ballot measure is important 

to the Union, the SFFD, and to The City. 

So, again, thank you very much for taking 

the time to help! 

Third, EMS stuff. I know, not the most 

palatable of subjects but I can’t help 

myself! Good luck to all who are taking 

the H33 EMS Captain exam! At a recent 

Fire Commission meeting, it was suggested 

by Department of Emergency Management 

(DEM) and CCSF that a Request for 

Proposal (RFP) process be implemented 

regarding privatization of ambulance 

service. Be assured that Local 798 

will remain “on top” of this and the 

protection of our members is a top priority! 

We will remain involved in up-coming 

meetings and will continue to bring information 

to the Membership. Also, beginning 

July 1 of this year, there will be 

new licensure (both new and renewal) 

guidelines as well as new discipline guidelines 

coming from the EMSA in Sacramento. 

As I finish digesting all the new 

information, there will be more information 

to follow on both the website and in 

the next MainLine. 

Fourth, the Presidio. It appears as 

though all is moving in the right direction 

with a projected start date of August 1, 

2010. 

And finally, it is with great sadness 

that I have to report the passing of Ed 

Cummings of Engine 42. Ed was only 46 

years old! Our thoughts and prayers go 

out to Ed’s son, his family and his family 

at Station 42. 

In closing, thank you again to the 

Membership for your hard work! Thank 

you to the Negotiating Team for their 

hard work as well! 

Thoughts and prayers to the family of 

Ed Cummings and Station 42. 

SVG 

STATION 3 

PRESENTS: 

(An H.O.A. production) 

a banquet in honor of five retired 

members of singular distinction 

from 1067 post st. 

Andy “Assman” Assereto 

Larry “I’m a patient man” Zammarchi 

Dan “the exposed nerve” Dente 

Louie “lotion louie” Ramirez 

Charles “the dumbest white man” baker 

Thursday October 21, 2010 (tour 14) 

s.f. Italian athletic club 

1630 stockton st. 

cocktails 6:30 

dinner 7:30 

$80 & entrée choice (BEEF,CHIX,FISH) BY 10/13/10 

Checks To: 

Station 3 

1067 Post St. 

San Francisco, CA 94109 



Emerging Talent 

2010 Academy of Art University 

Scholarship Winners 

Presidential 4 Year Bachelor 

o f F i n e A r t s S c h o l a r s h i p 

T ys o n B r o w n , s o n o f 

L awa n d a A n d ers o n, St n 

4 9 a n d D o m i n i c Pedrucco, 

son of Alberto Pedrucco, Stn 41 

Pre-College Summer 

Program Scholarship Winners 

Joshua Allen Jimenez 

Tyson Brown 

Thomecia Jashanae Busby 

Chris Castagnola 

Carmen Estrella 

Melissa M. Garcia 

Ross Lewin 

Kaelani Loo 

Joshua Louie 

Isaac Scheckells-Lane 

Colin Magalong 

Erika Turnquist

Hanley and Boys – Keep up the great work!” 


John Dellinges 

In memory of the Commander. He was a great help to many firemen and firefighters. He will be 

missed by all in the department and members of the Phoenix Society of SF. May he rest in peace. 

Semper fi, “Gunny” Don 

Local 798, Please accept this small donation to use where needed; in memory of Bob Jabs, John 

Baxter, Mike Stanfield and Jakc Chandler. Keep up the good work! 

Phil Savin, Engine 15, Retired 

Please accept this donation in memory of Kenny Cereghino, wife Vivian, and all passed Local 798 

members. Thank you for all the long hours and dedication to SFFD. 

Bell (Andy) Anderson, Retired 

In memory of Tony Sacco; remembering all who worked, fought and preserved the many benefits 

we enjoy. 

Mary Lou Martinez 

PS Thanks for the memories, Tony. 

Local 798, thanks. 

Bill Trant 

This is a memorial donation for Roger Bouyea for the San Francisco Toy Program. Please send a 

Memorial Card to Judy Bouyea . 

Thank you, John and Beverly Calverley 

I’d like to acknowledge and thank Tony Stefani for all he is accomplishing towards the health and 

well being of our members. We are very fortunate. Thank you Tony for your dedication. 

Bill Serafini 

Members at the 

Proposition B Photoshoot 

May 8, 2010

THe Inside Box

Local 798 and members of the SFFD, On behalf of my family I want to take this opportunity to thank 

you for your assistance and the beautiful flowers for my father, Roger Bouyer, Sr. He retired in 1969 

but never forgot the importance of the union and it’s members. 

I asked him several months ago, “When does a person begin not missing the department? His reply 

was “I still get a tear in my eye when a fire truck goes by with its red lights and siren on.” I guess 

that says it all. 

Also, thank you to Station 14. Fr. Greene and the Toy Program. To those retired and current members 

to attend, you’re on our hearts. 

Thank you and stay safe, Doug Bouyea, 2005 

Dear President O’Connor and Executive Board Members, We would like to thank you for attending 

and showing your support for the members of station 49 at the San Francisco Fire Commission 

meeting on April 8, 2010. Attending the fire commission meeting and participating in labor advocacy 

was a first for many members. Showing your commitment to the dynamic ambulance workforce 

was a bold accomplishment, which was felt by everyone. Additionally, the recent article by President 

O’Connor in the March/April edition of the Main Line supporting the career advancement of Station 

49 members was further evidence of your strength in advocating for members. Further, I have been 

receiving constant phone calls from members since this article was published expressing their overwhelming 

appreciation for President O’Connor for openly publishing this article. 

Once again we look forward to the continued working relationship with you and the executive board 

members to improve the working environment for all Local 798 membership. 

Regards, Scott Hellesto, Station Steward 

Jared Cooper, Station Steward 

Please accept this contribution in support. 


Ed Parrott, retired 

Dear Local 798, Please accept the enclosed check in memory of my father, retired firefighter John F. 

“Johnny-O” O’Sullivan, who passed away on March 7, 2010. 

Best regards, Jack O’Sullivan 

Please use the enclosed as needed in memory of Bill Tobin. Thanks to 798 for everything. 

Pete Sikora, BFP T3 RET 

SFFD- Local 798, Many thanks for all the great work… In memory of Station 12 brothers Joe Pardo, 

Jim Rohrs, Mike Stanfield, John Welsch 

Mike O’ Callaghan 

Thanks for all your helping hands Local 798! 

Enclosed in memory of August Pierucci 5.34.95 

JDM 

Thank you, Joan Pierucci 

Please accept this in memory of my departed friends of “Fort Shafter” aka Station 17. God bless them all. 

Jim Gioruas, Retired Station 17

Op Ed 

Op Ed 

Jeff Rusteen, SFFD Station 13 

Brothers and Sisters, in the upcoming 

battle over our wages, pension and our 

work hours, please consider the following 

before you answer questions put to you 

by the public, friends or family. 

Recently, during a doctor visit, the 

doctor asked what I do for a living, when 

I told her I was a firefighter in San Francisco 

something I did not expect happened. 

While attempting to mask her bias 

toward the fire department she asked, 

“…Well, how many fires do you really go 

to?” I responded that I thought it was a 

little more complicated than that, but if 

you mean a room and contents or larger, I 

thought it was over 150 per year (I was off 

by 290 for 2009). She was flabbergasted 

thinking that we most likely responded 

to “very few fires”. While this sentiment 

is mostly true for the suburbs, it is not in 

San Francisco. As it turns out, this Physician 

lives in San Francisco and works at 

Stanford, and is well connected. 

She had a few more questions since 

her quarry was unable to move, I obliged. 

She wanted to know why the San 

Francisco Fire Department was so much 

larger and more expensive than other cities. 

Like the, “how many fires” question, I did 

my best to answer. I realized my guesses 

were good but not 100% accurate. 

As I mentioned, with our hours, pay 

and retirement under scrutiny in the near 

future, we should all have the straightforward 

correct answers when a member of the 

public asks a reasonable question. The 

truth amazes people and is our best 

defense. Incorrect statements, or made 

up answers and we stand to lose 

credibility. This is made even more 

important since the Board of Supervisors 

seems to have either a very short memory, 

or a very convenient one, or both. 

I explained further. San Francisco has 

a nighttime population of about 803,000 

(the South of Market area is currently the 

fastest growing neighborhood in the San 

Francisco Bay Area, and may eventually 

add as many as 30,000 residents) and in 

the mornings over 400,000 people 

commute to work in downtown San Francisco. 

More than 100,000 drive through The 

City on freeways daily. Often there can be 

as many as 100,000 people at special events; 

this is in addition to our tourist load. Seven 

hundred fifty thousand people use Muni 

every day (The fifth busiest public 

transportation service in the USA), and 

this does not include Cal-train, or the 

ferry system. 

Then I mentioned high-rise buildings 

and BART. I mentioned these together 

because BART is similar to a high-rise 

laying on its side in terms of emergency 

response. It takes a very significant 

response to handle an emergency there. 

I also told her that about 52% of all the 

high-rises in California are in downtown 

San Francisco; she said “..I didn’t know 

that”. I also discovered later that Cal-train 

moves up to 38,000 people a day in and 

out of San Francisco. 

We should also all remember that we 

have a few fire suppression issues not 

significantly present anywhere else in 

California. Somewhat skeptically she said, 

“Like what? 

Single Resident Occupancies (SROs), 

a design hold over from the 1800’s. 

They are extremely high-density living 

arrangements built almost 100 years ago; 

all of wood, with very few modern fire 

protection standards, and often jammed 

with low-income residents. I forgot to 

mention how many of these buildings 

don’t even have elevators or adequately 

sized stairways for exiting during 

emergencies, further complicating our 

emergency responses. 

I informed her that San Francisco appears 

on the radar of terrorist’s organizations, 

foreign and domestic. (cont’d page 

22) 

‘‘ 

Most occupations do not 

place employees in peril 

every day they work. Part 

of our compensation is in 

recognition of this, some 

people including us need 

to be reminded of that. 

‘‘ 

LocaL 798 

Apparel 

available 

at the Hall 


I reminded her that smaller cities generally 

don’t have this problem. 

What I didn’t have the opportunity 

to mention was what has changed in the 

fire service in the last 30 or 40 years. We 

have added many completely new areas 

of responsibility added to our workload, 

including: 

• Wildland responses 

• Hazardous Materials responses 

• Homeland Security-Terrorism 

response and training 

• EMT training, then Advanced 

Life Support 

• Public Education including 

NERT 

• Urban Search and Rescue 

(USAR) 

• Specialized training, high angle, 

trench and confined space rescue 

operations 

All Active and Retired Firefighters and Families 

Join The Oakland A’s For 

Firefighter Appreciation Night 

S a t u r d a y , S e p t e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 0 

O a k l a n d A ’ s v s . B o s t o n R e d S o x 

First Pitch set for 6:05 pm at 

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 

Special On-Field Ceremony Honoring 

Local Firefighters at 5:45 pm 

$4 of select elect tickets sold will 

benefit: 

San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program 

To purchase e tttttiiiiiccccckkkkkkeeeeeetttttsssss tickets vvviiiiiiiiisssssssssiiiiiiiitttttttt visit oooooooaaaaaakkkkkkllllllaaaaaannnnnnddddddddaaaaaaaaatttttttthhhhhhlllleeeeettttttiiiiiiccccccssssss.....cccco 

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Field d Level- $28, $4 donated to ccharity 

Plaza a Level- $26, $4 donated to ccharity 

2009 American League Rookie of the Year, Pitcher Andrew Bailey 

For more information please visit oaklandathletics.com/firefighters 

or contact Jessica Scott at (510) 563-2336 or Jscott@oaklandathletics.com 

Whether this list is comprehensive 

or not, checkout what is new for other 

public agencies. 

In addition to this list, you should not 

forget your personal risk while we are 

at work. Most occupations do not place 

employees in peril every day they work. 

Part of our compensation is in recognition 

of this, some people including us need 

to be reminded of that. 

W h a t ’ s u n i q u e 

to San Francisco? 

• High-density,100-year-old 

wood construction on hills, 

including numerous SRO’s. 

• The highest concentration of 

un-reinforced masonry buildings 

in California. 

• High-density construction on 

landfill, which includes much 

of downtown as well as other 


For more information please visit oaklandathletics.com/fi refi ghters 

or contact Dan Stein at (510) 563-2283 or dstein@oaklandathletics.com 

areas. 

• 3 large mass transit agencies – 

not including the ferries, bridges, 

and airport and cruise ship 

terminals (cruise ships 

can have as many as 3000 

passengers and sometimes we 

get two at once). 

• Hundreds of high-rise buildings 

filled with people. 

• Many many small alleys and 

streets that are very congested. 

• Multiple languages and cultures. 

• Hills, wind, fog and thousands 

of overhead wires complicating 

roof access. 

• Many very very large public 

assembly structures. 

• Over burdened electrical 

grid prone to sudden and 

sometimes catastrophic failure. 

• Thousands of elevators, many 

100 years old.

• One of the most dangerous 

beaches in California and, don’t 

forget the cliffs. 

• Most of the Foreign Missions in 

California – over 58. 

• We have an active port. 

• 2 m a j o r b r i d ges a n d a n 

international airport. 

• Housing stock that only permits 

access from the front. 

Let’s not forget 

major events only in 


Bay to Breakers run 70K + 

Fleet Week 

Outlands Festival 60 k a day 

NFL and MLB games 

Fourth of July 

You get the picture. 

Fire Responses for 2009 

This is an abbreviated summary of our 

runs. 

Keep in mind when you read this that 

many fires in San Francisco do not 

present the possibility of exterior 

firefighting that we see in the suburbs. 

We must engage the fire from the inside 

out. This is the most dangerous way to 

extinguish a fire and that’s why our last 

2 serious injuries occurred where they 

did. 

(People Soft, Crystal Reports)* 

Building Fires 404 

Vehicle Fires 213 

Grass + Brush Fires 84 

Vehicle accident/injuries 1096 

Elevator rescues 404 

Surf Rescues 20 

Power line down 236 

EMS responses 79,460 

* This is a sample list and is not a complete 

representation of workload. 

Our staffing has not increased to handle 

this increase in responsibility; it has 

been absorbed into our current staff. In 

fact, we have lost significant numbers in 

the same time period. 

All this while we have been 

generously compliant with the cities 

requests for givebacks. 

So, when the city asks 

you to give back remember 

the following before 

you vote. 

• 48 to 48.7 hours increase, a 

loss of 23 FTE’s 

• Loss of operators 

• Loss of Battalion Chiefs 

• Loss of Division Chiefs 

• Loss of Administrative pay 

• Increase in work hours to 106 

per pay period before overtime 

starts. 

• If sick pay is used prior to a 

holiday, no holiday pay, even if 

you’re sick. 

A few extra fire facts. 

Most victims die from smoke inhalation, 

this often occurs before neighbors or 

residents are aware of anything. Once 

a fire inside a house reaches its free 

burning state it doubles its size every 

minute. In San Francisco, often we have 

only the front of the house for 

access and egress. This complicates 

the suppression effort further, often 

requiring additional personnel for attack 

and rescue. Each year more than 4,000 

American’s die and approximately 25,000 

are injured in fires many of which could 

have been prevented. Nearly 1,000 lives 

are lost to fires that originated in the 

bedroom and about 100 firefighters are 

killed in the line of duty each year 

during suppression only. 

• In only 3 1/2 minutes, the heat 

from a house fire can reach 

over 1100 degrees Fahrenheit 

(www.sf-fire.org). 

• Fire killed more Americans 

than all natural disasters 

combined (www.sf-fire.org). 

• There were an estimated 1.5 

million fires in 2008. 

Online resources: 

http://www.sf-fire.org/index.aspx?page=234 

http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreational- 

Safety/Fire-Prevention/index.html 

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/ 

Insurance Service Organization 

http://www.isomitigation.com/ppc/0000/ 

ppc0001.html 

For more information about ISO’s FSRS visit 

www.isomitigation.com/ 

ISO Customer Service at 1-800-888-4476. 


The Union Steps Up to Defend Against Illegal 

Investigation of members who responded to 

fire at 360 Post Street on October 14, 2009 


(Cont’d p26)

last alarm 2010 

Tom Bailon, retired Station6 

Richard Klingman, retired Station 4 

Warren Kentzell, retired Chiefs Operator 

Retired Captain, James Keefe 

Retired Member, Ray Podesta 

Retired Captain, Mike Sullivan 

Ed Cummings, firefighter e42 

John F. O'Sullivan, truck 1 

On March 7, 2010, after a brief illness, .a native of San 

Francisco, John graduated from Sacred Heart High School. 

During World War ll he served in the U.S. Navy as a Carpenter’s 

mate aboard the Destroyer Tenders USS Prairie (AD- 

15) and USS Frontier (AD-25). 

After the war, he joined the SFFD and was initially assigned 

to 15 Truck, which at that time was quartered with 

39 Engine. In the early 1950’s John became a driver-pump 

operator while stationed at old 15 Engine (now 38). For 

over 20 years, he was a driver at 3 Engine, before retiring as 

a driver of 10 Engine in January, 1983. 

During his many years with the SFFD, John witnessed 

significant changes in the Department such as 

the replacement of the old dual pumpers and tank wagon 

units with modern triple combination pumpers, 

aerial ladders replacing the old city service ladder 

trucks, filter-type masks phased out by self-contained 

breather apparatus, and the transition from open-cab to 

closed-cab apparatus. 

John possessed excellent carpentry and fine woodworking 

skills, and also enjoyed classic car restoration projects. 

He was a devoted husband to his wife Nora, a devoted father 

to Kathleen, Mary, Joann, and John (Jack) Jr, and cherished 

his role as a grandfather of five. 

Private funeral services were held at St. Raphael’s Church 

in San Rafael. Internment was at Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery 

in Marin. May he rest in peace. 

Submitted by Jack O’Sullivan 

63rd Annual Police-Fire 

Memorial Mass 

St. Monica’s 

Sunday, September 12, 

2010 

www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 13 25

The Union Steps Up to Defend Against Illegal 

Investigation of members who responded to 

fire at 360 Post Street on October 14, 2009 


In Memory of Edwin Cummings 

Edwin Cummings 

July 28, 1963- May 30, 2010 

Celebrating the life of our 

dear friend. Athelete, artist, 

joker, father, brother, 

gentleman and fireman

Local 798 

Scholarship 

Recipients 2010 

Each year the Local 798 Scholarship is 

awarded to a group of exceptional high 

school seniors. We are proud to 

recognize the following students for 

their thoughtful essays and award them 

w i t h $ 5 0 0 c o l l e g e s c h o l a r s h i p s . 

Applicants were asked to write about why 

their parents belong to a Union. Here are 

the winning responses: 

Summer 

Wright 

Riley 

Rachel 

28 Fewell 

Main Line Balmy 

www.sffdlocal798.org 

Jason 

Hornbuckle 

Olivia 

Romero

Olivia Romero 

Daughter of Angela Romero, Stn 32 

and Mario Ramero, Stn 11 

My parents are proud Union 

members. As San Francisco 

firefighter Union members, they 

are protected and represented 

during their lines of duty. The 

Union strives to protect the 

workers as my parents protect the 

people. 

My parents are a part of the 

Union because it serves as the 

backbone for people’s aspiration; 

they support the never-ending 

changes presented by our society. 

With the many benefits provided 

and the strong structures, unions 

manage to keep jobs, economics, 

and lives on track. My parents 

are a part of the union to build a 

strong community throughout the 

fire department. 

Summer Wright Daughter of Rick Gering Stn 1 

Before applying for the James T. Ferguson Scholarship I hadn’t 

put much thought into why my dad belongs to a union. I knew I 

was lucky to live a comfortable lifestyle but I didn’t know the exact 

role a union played in this lifestyle. This is when I began my 

research. 

The essence of a labor union is to give workers a stronger voice 

so they can receive a fair share of the economic growth they help 

create. Unions play a huge role in both securing legislated labor 

protections and rights such as safety, health, overtime, family/ 

medical leave and helps to enforce those rights on the job. Also, 

being a unionized worker you are more informed and are more 

likely to benefit from social insurance programs such as unemployment 

insurance and workers compensation. 

My research led me to discover that my dad’s union is directly 

involved in workplace health and safety. Unions provide safer 

workplace health and safety. Unions provide safer workplaces 

for employees reducing injuries and keeping firefighters healthier. 

After exploring all of this and finding out all these details it became 

clear to me why my dad, Rick Gering, belongs to Local 798. Even 

more importantly, I realized how lucky and thankful I am to have a 

parent active in such a union! 

Rachel Balmy Daughter of Alec Balmy BFP 

My father belongs to a Union because he recognizes the power 

in numbers and the strength in unity. United as one, these Union 

members strive to earn benefits such as health care and retirement 

plans for an entire body of peoples and their families. My father 

applauds his hard-earned labor rights and provides for our family 

while protecting the city. My affiliation to the Union stems through 

my relationship with my father, an inspiring and heroic figure in my 

life. With the existence of Unions, my family and our community 

have a safe and stable future. 

Riley Fewell 

Jason Hornbuckle 

Son of Jim Fewell, Stn 11 

Son of Donnie Hornbuckle Stn 48 

My father is proud to say he has been a San 

My father belongs to Local 798 

Francisco fireman and a member fo the Local 798 

because it helps him to be be 

Union for 23 years. He joined the Local 798 Union 

treated fairly. The Union represents 

because he thought it was important to belong to an 

him and fights for his rights in his 

organization that does so much to protect firemen. My dangerous career. They provide 

dad is thankful for the benefits and protection of being protection for him and our family as 

a part of Local 798. The union insures job security, 

well as protection from the cost of 

fights for fair wages and insures retirement benefits 

living. The Union makes sure that 

for firemen. They have made sure that my dad and 

our family is provided for, especially 

my family have the best medical coverage. Having a in this economic crisis. The Union 

dad who loves his job and is secure in the knowledge has provided so much for so many 

that his job, medical benefits and retirement for him 

people that my father is happy to 

and his family are secure, frees him so he can enjoy 

his life more with less worry. Being a Local 798 Union 

member has allowed my dad to do a better job as a 

fireman because they negotiate and protect his rights. 

support it. He is a member for life. 

My dad loves his job and I would like to thank Local 

798 for everything they do for my dad. www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 29 

21

San Francisco Firefighters RRC presents: 

The 30th Annual 

Turkey Trot 

Dedicated to the Memory of Tom Collins 

Benefiting the SF Firefighter’s Toy Program 

The San Francisco Fire Fighter’s Road Runners Club is holding their annual 4.5 mile fun 

run around Lake Merced on Saturday, November 20, 2010. Proceeds will be donated to the 

San Francisco Firefighters Local #798’s Toy Program. We encourage everyone to participate 

in this event. Come out with buddies, family, and stationmates. There will be awards for 

the top station, in both single and multi-company divisions. Scoring for the station awards 

will be the same as last year and in the Interstation Competition. (See below). 

In addition to the station competition. Volunteers will add three points to their station 

total, but must commit prior to 11/14/0. For further information about the race, or training 

programs or tips contact Jim Gallagher, 415-753-0880 or email wine1035@sbcglobal.net. . 

You are also invited to train with our “running group” at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park on 

Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We meet at 9 am. 

Point Schedule For 

Station Awards 

Time Points 

Under 28:00 6 

28:00.1 - 32:00 5 

32:00.1 - 36:00 4 

36:00.1 - 40:00 3 

40:00.1 - 44:00 2 

44:00.1 - 48:00 1 

*Volunteers receive 3 points for 

their station team. Team points 

are limited to: 2 volunteers per Single-company 

station, 3 volunteers 

per Multi-company station. 

Also, finish and place points 

are given at each of our races that 

accumulate through the year to 

determine “Runner of the Year 

Awards” for age-gender divisions. 

30 Main 48:00.1 Line - 60:00 .5 

www.sffdlocal798.org 

TURKEY 

TROT 

Saturday 

November 

20 

Race starts at 9am 

Lake Merced 

North Parking Lot 

Distance 4.5mi 

Early Registration 

before 11/15 $10 

At door $15 

Awards 

Division Winner 

Males/Females 

Meghan Doherty, CFP ® 

Financial Professional 

CA Insurance License #0C91224 

meghan.doherty@axa-advisors.com 

INVESTMENTS 

• Fixed-Income Investments 

• Equity Investments 

• Education Planning 

• Traditional Brokerage 

• Fee-Based Brokerage 

• College Savings Plans 

RISK MANAGEMENT 

• Life Insurance 

• Annuities 

• Long-Term Care Insurance 

• Business Planning 

• Disability Income Insurance 

• Securities & Fixed-Income 

Investing 

www.axa-equitable.com 

AXA Advisors, LLC 

275 Battery Street 

Suite 700 


Tel. (415) 378-3097 • (415) 276-2190 

Fax (415) 391-8358 

FINANCIAL STRATEGIES 

• Asset Allocation 

• Retirement Planning 

• Education Funding 

• Survivorship Planning 

• Estate Planning Strategies* 

• Financial Planning 

*Funded through the use of life insurance and other financial products. 

Securities and investment advisory services offered through AXA Advisors, LLC (NY, NY 212-314-4600), member FINRA, SIPC. Annuity 

and insurance products offered through AXA Network Insurance Agency of California, LLC and its affiliates. Meghan Doherty is licensed 

to conduct business in the state of California. GE-51723(a) (9/09) 

Turkey Trot 

Registration 

In consideration of your accepting my entry, I, intend to be legally bound 

and hereby for myself, my heirs, executors and administrators, waive and 

release forever any and all rights and claims or damages I may accrue 

against the San Francisco Fire Fighters and any and all sponsors of the race, 

their successors, representatives and assigns for any and all injuries suffered 

by me while traveling to and from and while participating in the “30th 

Annual Turkey Trot” run at Lake Merced on November 20, 2010. I further 

attest and certify that I am physically fit and have sufficiently trained for 

competition in this event and my physical condition has been verified by a 

licensed medical doctor except when in violation of religious principle. 

Name ______________________________________________________ 

Station ___________ 

Address _____________________________________________ Phone 

____________________ 

City ______________________________________ State ________ Zip 

___________________ 

Birth date _________________________ Age ________ Sex ________ 

Station ______________ 

Signature ___________________________________________________ 

Date ________________ 

Email ________________________________________________________ 

Checks payable to: “SFFFRRC” and mailed to Jim Gallagher, 1671-16th Ave., 

SF., CA 94122. Phone: (415) 753-0880 Fax: 415-681-8196. For immediate 

results, write your email address below so it can be read. 

Attention Car Enthusiasts 

All Local 798 members active and retired, we are 

starting a car club for gatherings and events and to 

meet people interested in Muscle Cars, Hot Rods and 

Classics. If you are interested please contact 

Danny Gracia at (415) 608-7901 or Geoff Quesada 

at (415) 860-6197 

Member’s Rides Questionnaire 

Would you like your ride to be featured in the 

next Main Line? Send the following information 

to the Union Hall: 

Name: 

Firehouse: 

Make: 

Model: 

Year: 

Engine type: 

Transmission Type: 

Brief History of Vehicle: Production Numbers, 

special traits, Mileage, Rims and tires, etc... 

Digital images (200+ res):

The INside Box Bush Street Fire February 2010 


The INside Box 

Box#6346 579 Oxford Street, April 8, 2010 

High-rise Climb 

for Lung Association 

Fundraiser 

BY: Jaxon Van Derbeken 

Christopher Mora-Posey could only watch last year as fellow San Francisco 

firefighters scaled the 1,197 steps to the top of the former Bank of 

America building on California Street to help raise money and awareness 

about lung disease and asthma. 

“I showed up in moral support,” the beefy 41-year-old San Francisco 

firefighter recalled Saturday. He was lucky to even do that. 

Mora-Posey was just out of San Francisco General Hospital, where he had 

been in a coma for three weeks, his lungs having collapsed from severe 

burns when his ventilator mask was jarred loose in an explosion at a 

Portola district house fire Feb. 5, 2009. He also was treated for a torn 

shoulder and other wounds. 

On Saturday, after months of rehab and conditioning, he was back - not as 

a supporter, but as a participant in the American Lung Association’s 

fourth annual skyscraper stair climb. 1,200 climbers 

He was among 50 San Francisco firefighters and 1,150 other 

well-conditioned souls who clambered up 52 stories through the heart of 

the former Bank of America building. 

At the top, he enjoyed a celebratory bagel with his son, who made the 

climb with him. Then he went back to the bottom and ran up again - this 

time with a firefighters’ air tank on his back to add to the challenge. It 

took him, he said, 17 minutes. 

“Last year, I could barely make it up a few steps. This year, I made it up 

over a thousand,” he said. “I’m satisfied - trust me. I envy people who 

went up in full gear - that’s hard. It’s hard to go up without anything.”

About 25 firefighters went up in full firefighting regalia - tanks, coats 

and breathing apparatus - an outfit that weighs about 70 pounds. Asthma no 

obstacle 

Mora-Posey’s injuries also caused him to develop asthma, but that didn’t 

slow him down. He came equipped with an inhaler, which he used before 

ascending. Mora-Posey said he went up twice to be a “positive role model 

and be a good morale booster” at the Fire Department. 

While not fully recovered - his lungs are at 90 percent - Mora-Posey was 

slowed on his first run up the stairs. That’s because his 9-year-old son, 

diagnosed with Type I diabetes soon after the fire - had to take breaks. 

“He is my role model,” he said of his son, Siano Valle-Posey. 

When Mora-Posey decided to go a second time, fellow firefighters urged 

caution. 

“I just wanted to see if I could do it without stopping,” he said. “I 

didn’t stop. This is another steppingstone for me to get back to work.” 

Mora-Posey said he had suffered what could have been a fatal dose of 

carbon monoxide in the fire. 

“I’m a spiritual person,” he said. “There had to be God or angels looking 

over me. That and all the thousands of prayers from everyone helped.” ‘You 

will be tested’ 

Greg Collaco, a firefighter who oversaw emergency services for Saturday’s 

event, said he has been doing the climb for four years, first as a 

participant, then a team leader. He said under normal conditions, the 

event is “challenging.” 

“Cardiovascularly, you will be tested,” he said. “The lungs go before the 

legs do.” 

But for Mora-Posey the legs and the lungs went and went and went - up 104 

stories worth of stairs. 

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it,” he said. 


Box # 1331 35 Ross Alley, January 4, 2010 


Box#6346 579 Oxford Street, April 8, 2010 


Future Op-Ed Piece for the Save our Firehouses Campaign 

Cut the fat, not the firehouses 

By Tom O’Connor 

San Francisco has always looked to its 

firefighters in times of crisis. Today, our city 

faces a budget crisis unlike any in modern 

memory – and firefighters are working sideby-side 

with their fellow San Franciscans to 

meet the challenge. 

We’re cutting our budget at the Fire Department, 

improving efficiency and even digging 

into our own pockets and taking less 

pay to help close our city’s half-billion dollar 

budget gap. We’re doing all of this to make 

sure we can continue to fulfill our vital mission: 

to protect the lives and property of the 

people of San Francisco. 

We know that in times like these, it’s waste 

and bureaucracy that need to be cut – not 

vital services. 

That’s why San Francisco firefighters want 

our contributions to this effort to be used 

to keep our neighborhood firehouses open, 

not redirected to pay for other priorities 

that, although important, are not as important 

as public safety. 

Four years ago, San Franciscans passed the 

Neighborhood Firehouse Protection Act to 

keep our neighborhood firehouses open. 

They understood then – and understand 

now – that San Francisco’s neighborhood 

firehouses are the first line of defense in the 

event of fires, medical emergencies or any 

major disaster. 

We agree. And we feel so strongly about 

it that we’re cutting our own pay because 

we know San Francisco cannot afford to cut 

neighborhood firehouses. 

As San Francisco firefighters, we’re proud 

that we’re doing something right – and 

we’ve been doing it right for more than 20 

years. Consider these facts: 

First, the number of emergency calls handled 

by the Fire Department has more than 

doubled in the last 20 years. Yet, we’re 

handling these calls with 15 percent fewer 

staff – and we’re doing a better job. Medical 

outcomes for the patients we serve have 

greatly improved and our response times 

are now among the fastest in the nation. 

Second, our department is now one of the 

busiest of all fire departments in the United 

States, with our busiest engines regularly 

handling more than 7,000 call a year. In 

most municipal fire departments, handling 

3,500 calls a year is considered busy. 

Third, while our productivity has doubled, 

the percentage of the city budget that goes 

to fund fire and emergency medical services 

has dramatically decreased to just over half 

of what it was 20 years ago. 

How did we accomplish this feat? It wasn’t 

magic – just common sense and hard work. 

The Fire Department undertook a compre 


hensive review of emergency services in 

2004 and, based on the results, completely 

overhauled the way we deliver these vital 

services. 

Instead of maintaining two separate sets of 

personnel for medical and fire services, the 

department and its Local 798 union began 

to cross-train its staff to become firefighter 

/ medics. We’ve created dual-function (fire 

and medical) engine companies to make 

sure that both fire and emergency medical 

services are closer to you – in your neighborhood 

firehouse – when you need them 

in an emergency. 

These innovations have resulted in fewer 

staff and faster response times. Most importantly, 

they have saved lives. 

We understand what tough times mean to 

San Francisco and the tough choices facing 

our decision-makers. We’re doing our part 

by continuing to find cost-savings and make 

necessary reforms – like cross-training firefighters 

and medics. We’re cutting the fat 

– but we shouldn’t cut neighborhood firehouses 

that are your first line of defense 

for fires, medical emergencies, and major 

disasters.

SFFD & USCG 2/11/10 

IN Continual 

Preparation 


Main Line is the official 

publication of the San 

Francisco Firefighters 

Local 798. Affiliated 

with IAFF-CIO/CLC. It 

reflects the views 

and opinions of the 

Executive Board and the 

membership. We do not 

endorse or support any 

other publication, nor do 

we endorse or support 

telemarketing as it pertains 

to the San Francisco 

Firefighters Local 798. 

Tom O’Connor 

President, Local 798 

The INside Box Texaco Fire 

San Francisco Fire Fighters 

Local 798 

MAINLINE 

1139 Mission Street 



Nonprofit Org. 

US POSTAGE 

PAID 

San Francisco, CA 

Permit No. 6926

San Francisco Firefighters say

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