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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. 20 Main Line www.sffdlocal798.org 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 www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 21
Page 1 and 2: MainLine SAN FRANCISCO FIREFIGHTERS
Page 3 and 4: TigerRescue San Francisco Firefight
Page 5 and 6: we actually cost the General Fund.
Page 7 and 8: Publishers Note: All members in goo
Page 9 and 10: the Local 798 automobile associatio
Page 11 and 12: Retired Firemen and Widows Associat
Page 13 and 14: Letter From the Director Letter Fro
Page 15 and 16: Letter From The Director Letter Fro
Page 17 and 18: Emerging Talent 2010 Academy of Art
Page 19: THe Inside Box
Page 23 and 24: • One of the most dangerous beach
Page 25 and 26: last alarm 2010 Tom Bailon, retired
Page 27 and 28: In Memory of Edwin Cummings Edwin C
Page 29 and 30: Olivia Romero Daughter of Angela Ro
Page 31 and 32: Meghan Doherty, CFP ® Financial Pr
Page 33 and 34: About 25 firefighters went up in fu
Page 35 and 36: SFFD & USCG 2/11/10 IN Continual Pr

San Francisco Firefighters say

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