 |
||||
|
 |
|
||
|
||||
|
|
|
||
|
||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
To the Hon. the Board of Fire CommissionersGentlemen: – I respectfully beg to present to you my annual report, together with such recommendations as in my judgment I deem necessary and proper to promote the efficiency of the Department.
of the City and County of San Francisco.
FIRES.
During the year the Department responded to 662 alarms of fire received from street and automatic boxes, of which 619 were first alarms, 31 were second alarms and 12 third alarms. The Department also responded to 199 silent alarms during the year, received verbally and by telephone, making a total of 861 alarms of fire responded to.
APPARATUS.
The following apparatus is in good condition and in regular service in the Department: thirty-five steam fire engines, thirty-six hose wagons, nine hook and ladder trucks, seven chemical engines, two monitor batteries, fifteen officers' buggies, forty hand fire extinguishers and 74,300 feet of cotton fire hose.
In addition to the above there is also the following apparatus and vehicles for relief, emergency and other purposes: Eleven steam fire engines, ten hose wagons, two water towers, one monitor battery, three hook and ladder trucks, one hose carriage, eight officers' buggies, seven hydrant carts, ten delivery wagons, two supply wagons, one delivery truck, one hay wagon, one oil wagon, one sand wagon and one automobile.
NEW APPARATUS.
During the year the following new apparatus was acquired by the Department: Six buggies, of which three were built at the Department Corporation Yard.
The following new hose was purchased during the year:
20,000 feet of 2 3/4-inch cotton hose 10,000 feet of 1 1/2-inch cotton hose 1,000 feet of 1-inch rubber chemical hose 1,000 feet of 1-inch cotton hose 500 feet of 1-inch rubber hose.
HOUSES.
Fifteen new houses for companies, to those destroyed by the conflagration of April, 1906, have been erected during the past year, but considerable improvements are necessary before these houses are fully completed and fit for permanent occupancy, and the apparatus of five companies is still out of service for lack of quarters for housing of the same.
DEPARTMENT STABLES.
There are at present in the Department 323 horses, including those kept for relief purposes, and with the exception of fifteen that are at present under treatment at the Department hospital, they are all in fairly good condition.
During the year fifty-three horses were purchased and twenty-seven horses and two suckling colts were condemned as unfit for further service in the Department, of which number fifteen horses and two suckling colts were sold at public auction and twelve transferred to the Health Department. Thirteen horses died during the year while under treatment at the Department hospital. One horse was killed by an electric car, three horses dropped dead while in service, three were killed on account of broken legs and two were killed on account of glanders, making a total of twenty-two horses that died during the year.
During the year 850 cases of sickness and injured horses were treated by the veterinary surgeon at the Department hospital or the engine houses of the Department.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
I would recommend that houses be erected for Engine Companies Nos. 1, 2 and 31, which are still out of service. Also that the temporary houses built since the conflagration be sheathed on the inside and painted. Also that a house be built for Engine Company No. 7, now quartered in a barn. Also that an addition be built to the house of Truck Company No 7 in order to provide sufficient room for Engine Company 10, whose wagon is now in a shed. Also that the house of Engine Company 19 on Market Street, near Tenth, be rebuilt. I would also recommend the establishment of a new engine company on Ashbury Heights; also of a new engine and truck company at Sacramento and Maple streets, and of a chemical company, equipped with a combination chemical and hose wagon on Twenty- second Street, near Noe, where a lot has already been purchased for that purpose.
I would also recommend the purchase of four new engines, two trucks and three combination chemical and hose wagons and of 10,000 feet of hose.
Provision should also be made for the erection of a new Corporation Yard and Repair Shop, the occupation of the Lick-Wilmerding School for that purpose being purely temporary and far from satisfactory.
In conclusion, I desire to tender my sincere thanks to your honorable Board for the active and untiring interest manifested by you in all matters pertaining to the efficiency and advancement of the Department. I also desire to express my thanks to the officers and members of the Department for the commendable manner in which they have performed their required duties therein.
To the Chief of Police and members of the Force, to Fire Marshal Towe and Captain Comstock of the Underwriters' Fire Patrol, and to Chief Hewitt of the Department of Electricity, I also desire to extend by thanks in appreciation of the invaluable assistance given the Department whenever required.
Respectfully Submitted,