SAN FRANCICO CONSERVATION CORPS FOLLOWING THE EARTHQUAKE OF OCTOBER 17, 1989 History Corpsmembers attending class stared out the window in horror as the Marina began to burn. Crews doing recycling work at the third game of the World Series overcame their own fears and helped people coming out of Candlestick. One crew, working on a project at the Family Service Agency, continued their task of building a deck after the quake was over. A supervisor finishing a swim in the bay returned to the San Fracnisco Conservation Corps' (SFCC) center to begin what would become a monumental task of assisting in San Francisco's recovery from the earthquake of October 17th. Most of the administrative staff of the corps was away from the center when the quake happened, either on their way home, at home, or, in the case of the Executive Director, on vacation. The few staff and corpsmembers that were at the center launched a pro-active effort to aid in the emergency response.
One of the first duties was to assist the National Park Service and Red Cross in
transforming the SFCC center and the Great Meadow into an evacuation center. A
generator was set up, lights strung; blankets, cots, first-
After setting up the evacuation center, several supervisors and corpsmembers gathered
wrenches and went into the Marina area. They located and shut off gas valves and helped
direct confused and shocked residents to the Marina Middle School. The supervisor in
charge went from Engine Company to Engine Company trying to obtain information and
direction on where the Corps might best help out. His offers were turned down, partly due
to the confusion of the situation, but also due to people not knowing who the Corps was.
Some corpsmembers stayed in the Marina area to help wherever they could. Others
returned to the center to assist residents that had arrived seeking shelter.
Wednesday the remainder of the SFCC staff arrived at Ft. Mason to find it closed due to
gas leaks. Corpsmembers were turned away, but staff were allowed in. Even though most
staff had not been contacted after the quake, they inherently knew that there would be a job
for the corps to do and made their way into the center. Staff met to begin planning a
response and phone calls were made to DPW, MOCD, Red Cross - anyone who might be
empowered to dispatch the Corps.
Late in the morning the Park Police got a call from the Marina for chain saws and hard hats.
They requested the assistance of the Corps, and a supervisor was dispatched with the
equipment. In the afternoon the Executive Director returned to the city, along with the
Director of the California Conservation Corps, and the Bay Area CCC Director. Between
them they had 2000 corpsmembers that could be immediately dispatched to help. However
at a Meeting of all department heads the offer of help was again declined.
Thursday Ft. Mason was re-opened, and the Corps was back up to full strength -
corpsmembers having been called the day before and told to report. It was felt that the
Corps must again be pro-active in order to help. Crews were dispatched to their regular
worksites, but told to look for ways to be helpful. one staff member began to work with
Senior Centers to assess damage in the homes of seniors on a door-to-door basis. Another
staff member was dispatched to the Police Command in the Marina to offer the services of
corpsmembers in crowd control. This offer was quickly accepted as it was obvious that the
detail of meter maids was becoming overwhelmed. Within a half hour three crews were
deployed along Marina Blvd.
Shortly after that SFCC received a request from the Mayor's Office to provide 150
corpsmembers at Marina Middle School to escort residents into damaged structures, and
assist them in removing their belongings. All crews were brought in from their regular
work projects and an additional two crews were dispatched from the California
Conservation Corps. Crews were divided into groups of four and deployed in front of
every red-tagged building in the Marina.
As they entered the perimeter, corpsmembers got their first real impression of what damage
had been done. "We were loud and talkative as we passed through what would later
become Checkpoint Danny, but as we went further into the perimeter I noticed our voices
echoing off of deserted buildings ... we all lowered our voices, as if on cue. Then we saw
the heavily damaged buildings on Jefferson street for the first time ... silence."
The crews spent the rest of that day and well into the evening monitoring access to
damaged buildings. They would write down the persons name, time they entered, and then
call them out after fifteen minutes. The situation was changing constantly with more
buildings being red-tagged, and conflicting information on whether residents should be
allowed into red-tagged buildings (which was the case for the first day at least). The Corps
was able to respond as needed, due primarily to the fortuitous rental of walkie-talkies made
just as the Corps was being deployed. Corpsmembers performed far more than the required
duties, often lending residents hard hats, helping them to move belongings out of buildings
and out of the perimeter, and comforting and assisting residents who were too old, frail, or
shocked to be able to recover their belongings. In one case a single corpsmember took
charge of an entire block of Jefferson Street, including a throng of reporters and
photographers, several MP's and dazed residents.
On Friday SFCC continued the job of escorting residents in the Perimeter, and took on
additional jobs as well. By this time the Corps had established a command center at Marina
Middle School and was able to quickly deploy corpsmembers to direct parking in the
school yard, clean up trash, act as messengers, staple visquine on exposed plaster and
broken windows, help residents move belongings out of buildings, and a myriad of other
tasks large and small.
Saturday, October 21, began with the news that another building had collapsed overnight in
the perimeter. Because of the concern that people might try to get into buildings after dark
SFCC was asked to mount a 24-hour watch beginning Saturday night. In order to
accomplish this additional crews were called in from the California conservation Corps,
East Bay Conservation Corps, and Marin Conservation Corps. The night watch paid off
when crews were able to quickly alert DPW to water leaks and another house on the verge
of collapsing. As more buildings either collapsed or were demolished, the job of helping
residents sift through the rubble grew and several crews were assigned to assist in this.
Among the items that were recovered were a bird that had been trapped in the rubble for
several days - dusty but otherwise unhurt, and valuable family pictures that were traced to
the owner through a framing studio in Indiana.
On October 22 a meeting was held with officials from SFCC, DPW, and the Mayor's
Office to discuss the second phase of relief work. It was decided to barricade each red-
On October 23 and 24 the Corps placed barricades, helped residents move belongings, and
handed out fliers from PG&E and the Mayor's office giving information on relief help and
the resumption of services. The Corps also began renovation work at a shelter on Polk
Street to house people made homeless by the earthquake.
On October 25th the responsibility for manning all checkpoints leading into the perimeter
was passed from the Police to SFCC. The role of the corps was to ensure that people
essential to the recovery operations - residents, public utility employees, contractors,
movers, social service employees, and others, were allowed into the effected area, while
sightseers and such were kept out.
This phase of the relief work called upon all of the Corpsmember's diplomacy and
maturity. Corpsmembers had to deal with residents who were tired of being stopped,
contractors who didn't have permits, and sightseers who felt they were entitled to view the
damage. In one instance a corpsmember was attacked by a residents dog. Another
corpsmember successfully provided first-aid to a woman suffering a heart attack. As the
rapport between the community and the corpsmembers grew, residents showed their
gratitude by bringing coffee and food.
The corps was able to return to some semblance of regular duty during the period of
manning the checkpoints, which extended until November 22. Day and night shifts were
formed, and those corpsmembers not required on perimeter duty returned to their regular
work projects. Work at the perimeter was for the most part uneventful. The presence of the
perimeter undoubtedly enabled PG&E and DPW to quickly restore services without being
hampered. The perimeter was also able to assist in providing security, as on several
occasions possible looters were prevented from entering the area. The security aspects of
the perimeter were diminished when Muni restarted a bus route into the area. With the
announcement of the restoration of all services by Thanksgiving, the work of SFCC in the
Marina came to an end.
The end of SFCC's presence in the Marina was not the end of the Corps' earthquake relief
and recover work. SFCC has taken on projects in other areas, including assisting the
Salvation Army to sort and load clothing and supplies, renovation of a homeless shelter,
repairs at child care centers, and other projects. It is anticipated that the Corps involvement
in recovery activities will last well into the first quarter of 1990
One of the roles of SFCC is to train young people. Inherently in any training organization
methods are always evaluated to determine their effectiveness. Thus the entire time the
Corps was working in the Marina, techniques were being evaluated in order to be better
prepared for the next one. over the next months the staff will be meeting to develop a
comprehensive plan to enable SFCC to be even more effective during the next disaster. The
following are some of the issues that will be addressed in that plan.
All staff will attend disaster preparedness training, most likely that offered by the California
Conservation Corps. Refresher courses will be taken as needed. Most staff hold multi-
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Ft. Mason was closed after the quake. If the closure had extended more than one day, the
corpsmembers would not have had a place to report. Alternative emergency staging sites
will be identified. The feasibility of establishing mobilization points throughout the city will
also be explored. Telephone numbers and other emergency information for corpsmembers
and staff will be updated on a regular basis. In those cases where corpsmembers could not
be contacted after the October 17th quake, it was due to incorrect or no phone numbers
being given in their personnel file.
It is safe to assume that during the next disaster walkie-
Walkie-talkies, if they are used, will have to be strong enough to reach all parts of the city
since the next one may not be localized in just one area.
SFCC will seek funding to procure generators, and emergency lighting equipment. Basic
supplies such as flashlights, flares, portable radios, face masks, etc. will be purchased,
stored and renewed as needed.
From the corpsmembers and staff point of view the best scenario would be for SFCC to be
among the first to arrive and the last to leave after a disaster of the magnitude of the October
17th quake. Plans that the Corps develop will be integrated into interagency plans in order
that SFCC will be called upon, and that they will be ready to serve.
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