ESER 2010, a $412.3 million General Obligation bond, was approved by voters in June 2010. The first of a comprehensive bond program, ESER 2010 spearheaded the City's efforts to enhance safety and emergency response by ensuring that police and fire facilities and infrastructure remain uncompromised in the event of an earthquake or other major disaster.
Some police stations are nearly a century old – built during a time when police officers patrolled the streets on horseback and with wagons – and many upgrades are more than 25 years old. There is an urgency to make improvements to police facilities to bolster their resiliency in the event of an earthquake. Most don't meet current seismic codes for an essential public safety facility.
Many of our neighborhood fire stations are in need of seismic upgrades and other health and safety improvements. It is critical that our first responders are housed in healthy, safe, and seismically sound facilities – thus providing essential emergency response services to people who need them during times of crisis.
The Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond Program is seismically retrofitting and making other necessary health and safety improvements to ensure that selected stations are fully functional after a major earthquake.
In June 2014, San Francisco voters approved a $400 million Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response bond – the second phase of the ESER Bond Program.
After a major earthquake or other disaster, San Francisco will rely on select public buildings to deploy aid, provide shelter and coordinate emergency response and recovery. It is essential that these facilities be viable and functional for these purposes and remain operational.
The 9‐1‐1 Call Center is operated and managed by the Department of Emergency Management. It is located at the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 1011 Turk Street in the Western Addition neighborhood and houses public safety dispatchers who answer all calls made to 9‐1‐1. These dispatchers are the initial point of contact for all of San Francisco’s first responders, 24 hours a day.
The San Francisco Police Department is increasing its staff to meet the changing needs of the growing City. This presents a challenge to the Police Department’s district stations and support facilities, as they were built for a smaller police force and lack adequate space for the current staffing level and projected future needs.
Fire stations operate and are staffed by firefighters 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is critical that our first responders are housed in safe and seismically sound facilities with the capacity to provide essential emergency response services.
The Emergency Firefighting Water System – officially called the Auxiliary Water Supply System (AWSS) – is an independent high-pressure water supply system dedicated to fire protection. It was built in 1913 in response to the 1906 Great Earthquake. It consists of a 135-mile pipeline network, a high-elevation reservoir and two large-capacity tanks, two pumping stations, fireboats, underground water tanks (cisterns) and Bay water intakes (suction connections).
San Francisco Public Works
49 South Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94103
City and County of San Francisco
Follow us:
