The Fire Department currently occupies three training facilities at separate locations throughout the City, including at Treasure Island. While the current training program appears effective, opportunities may exist for the training program to be provided more cost effectively from a consolidated training facility. This section of our report examines the current training uses at the different sites, and broadly evaluates the benefits of combining all training activities at a single location.

2310 Folsom Street

In addition to housing Station 7, this nearly two-acre site also houses the Department"s principal Training Division offices, including that of the Assistant Deputy Chief who is the Director of Training. The site contains a 75-seat capacity classroom, offices for trainers and a technical specialist, a seven-story brick tower (with basement), and sufficient land area to accommodate parking for over 50 vehicles along with several engines and aerial-ladder trucks when they are required for training activities. This site is also referred to as the "Fire College."

Floor space in the tower is functionally allocated as follows: the first floor is for training in the care and use of breathing apparatus. The second floor is the cadets" lunchroom. Lockers for cadet firefighting gear and clothing changes are located on the third floor. Storage of and training on forcible-entry equipment is provided on the fourth floor, and the fifth floor space is set-aside for lessons in all aspects of rope usage. Physical fitness instruction is presented on the sixth and seventh floors.

This is the Department"s primary facility for basic firefighting training, the 16-week course that must be successfully completed by recruits before they can go into the field and begin their year of probationary service. During FY 2000-01, such basic training was conducted during every week of the year with H2 Firefighter, H1 Medic and H3 Paramedic classes. Physical agility testing for new and returning firefighters is also conducted here. The entire Department"s various companies use the facility on weekends for Company-based and Battalion-based training. Reserve firefighters meet and train at this location every Thursday evening. Lastly, the Department"s Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) Training Program makes use of this site on various evenings and weekends.

This site is owned by the Department, instead of leased. The site is also physically located in the central part of the City. All active personnel remain on call when in training at this site, and can be dispatched with their respective companies if necessary in an emergency. The tower in particular, as well as several other physical elements at this site (e.g., built slope, water standpipes and the catch basin) provide unique environmental conditions for the specialized type of training that is conducted at the Fire College. There is no other Department-owned site in San Francisco that offers the combination of direct and specialized training benefits that are currently available at this location.

Building 1216 - Presidio

Situated in the Army Education Center at the Presidio, in the northwest quadrant of the City, the Department utilizes about 15,000 square feet on the first and second floors at this location for all of its emergency medical services training activities. This space accommodates three large and six small classrooms along with an open area containing cubicles for about 25 trainers, administrators and the Department"s Quality Assurance Unit. The Department pays $230,000 annually to lease this facility on a month-to-month basis, and another $35,000 per year for utilities. This is undoubtedly the busiest of the three training facilities in terms of numbers of classes and trainees on an annual basis.¹ All of the Departments medics and paramedics maintain their required certifications through instruction offered at this site; and, personnel remain on call and available for duty, if required, while engaged in training at the Presidio.

Management views this site as inadequate for the Department"s needs. More and larger classrooms, as well as more and better-delineated office space, are frequently cited as being highly desirable; followed by expressed wishes for a greater degree of occupancy certainty, either with a longer-term lease or at a Department-owned site.

600 Avenue M - Treasure Island

The Treasure Island facility sits on nearly seven acres and contains nine different buildings that house classrooms, dining facilities, restrooms, offices, maintenance and storage facilities, electrical equipment, water pumps and air tank refill apparatus, and computer-controlled structures for fire and smoke simulation. This site, located in San Francisco Bay and accessible primarily by the Bay Bridge, serves as the Department"s live-fire training facility and features Battalion-based training throughout the year. Employees engaged in training at this location are not on call and available for duty because of distance from the service area and limited Bay Bridge access.

This is the only training site that generates revenue from outside agencies that use the Department"s fire and smoke simulation facilities. In FY 1999-2000, the income from this source was about $42,000, well below the Department"s projection. The level of FY 2000-01 revenue from rent paid by external agencies was not much greater. On the other hand, the Department pays $1.8 million annually to lease this site and its improvements through 2003. Also, the Department pays $475,000 annually on a maintenance agreement with an engineering company for the fire simulator controls, bringing the total cost to nearly $2.3 million annually.

Table 1.5.1, below, summarizes the principal characteristics of the Department"s three training facilities described above.

Table 1.5.1
Characteristics of SFFD Training Facilities

Number of Training Facilities

The Department currently maintains three separate training facilities and different types of training are provided at each one: basic fire fighting at the Fire College, medical services at the Presidio, and live fire at Treasure Island. Each site has different physical features and characteristics that generally support or enhance the type of training conducted there. While the specific content, emphasis, and techniques of learning activities at these different sites vary, they are functionally the same: training; and, they are basically for the same group of personnel: those providing fire suppression, rescue and emergency medical services in the City and County of San Francisco.

The Fire Department has a Division of Training that is responsible for managing, coordinating and directing all training activities, except for medical services, which is the responsibility of the Emergency Medical Services Division (Section 1.4). Because instructional rooms, audio-visual equipment, other resources and related administrative aspects of the training function are duplicated in some instances, and not shared in others, this suggests that the potential for certain operating efficiencies may exist. One facility has inadequate space (Presidio) while another has an abundance of space (Treasure Island), pointing to a potential benefit that could result from a combined facility. Separation of firefighting training administration from medical services training administration reinforces the underlying schism from the 1997 merger of paramedics into the Department.

As discussed in Section 1.4, we believe a more integrated approach to the training function would be cost effective at separate locations, and would be enhanced if operated from a shared facility. The question of an integrated approach is a policy and management issue. The question of a combined facility is a technical and economic one, although not unrelated to the question of approach.

Suitability of Existing Fire Department Training Sites

The Fire College site could accommodate the construction of additional classroom space at the expense of parking and space for engine and truck maneuvers during training. However, the site is not large enough to accommodate structures for live fire training, which would not be advisable in any case because of the adjacent residential units and the fact that it would take up a large portion of the site to be done properly. Thus, in addition to the existing fire fighting training, medical services training could be accomplished at 2310 Folsom Street with new construction and, depending on the design and building placement, some degree of impact on parking and maneuverability. There is no way to assess impact on the community from this amount of construction and the accompanying increased use of the site, which would be substantial. This site could not accommodate all three of the current training specialties under any circumstances. The best-case scenario at the Fire College site would be training for basic fire fighting and medical services.

The Presidio site is a short-term location for the Department because the Presidio Trust has tentatively approved a plan for redevelopment of the property that does not include a paramedic training facility. At some future point, the Department will be seeking new quarters for medical services training. Thus moving the other two training specialties to the Presidio is not an option that merits any serious consideration as the long-term solution for a centralized training facility.

Combining all three training units at Treasure Island is not an innovative concept; it surfaced as a question from the Board of Supervisors during the recent budget hearings. As at the Fire College site, some construction would be required if all of the training specialties were to be co-located at Treasure Island and retain some of their individual characteristics. For example, the seven-story tower is the primary feature at Folsom Street, and there is nothing of that height at Treasure Island. On the other hand, classroom space at Treasure Island is abundant, as is the parking and open space. And live fire training that would be problematic in a residential neighborhood, such as that surrounding the Fire College, is the primary feature at Treasure Island. The principal concern with Treasure Island is its location in a remote part of the City, with restricted access in certain situations. It is therefore less desirable as a candidate for a combined training facility, despite its other benefits of size and live-fire training capability.

Access to Treasure Island, and the ability to transport firefighters and paramedics from Treasure Island back to the City in the event of a major disaster and loss of the Bay Bridge, is a concern that can potentially be mitigated. Assuming that the Department has an adequate supply of apparatus available in San Francisco for use by these personnel, one solution would be to transport them by boat, such as ferries or other watercraft.

None of the existing three training sites appear suitable without mitigation as the location for a combined facility. However, the notion of such a facility is one with enormous potential for operating efficiencies, reduced administrative cost for training, and strengthening of the Department"s dual role of providing fire suppression and medical services. At this writing, the Treasure Island site with mitigation offers the greatest potential as both immediate and long-term solutions for a centralized training facility. Other locations within San Francisco are discussed below, in regard to their potential for serving these needs.

Other Potential Sites

In light of the high likelihood that the Department"s medical services training activity will be relocated from the Presidio site, it is reasonable to look toward a combined three-specialty training facility in connection with the prospective medical services move. In the past, the Department of Real Estate has reviewed several large industrially zoned properties in San Francisco with selected City departments in mind.² The principal viable sites remaining in terms of size and location within the City limits are (a) the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a vast property under control of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, (b) the Schlage Lock property, and (c) the old Armory.

The Hunters Point property is of more than sufficient size; however, it also contains documented hazardous waste. Some costly remediation work has begun at the property, but there is much more remaining. There is well-organized community vigilance of this property and any development will require their endorsement.

The Schlage Lock property is about six acres in size and contains several structures and open space adequate for a combined training facility of the size and type that would accommodate the Fire Department. Also, it is located in the southern part of the City, midway between the Cow Palace and 3Com Park, in an industrial area that would accommodate the live fire training operation. This site is privately held. Thus, sale price and funding source will surely be issues for the Department if there is any interest in pursuing it.

The 1.59-acre Armory site, located at the southwest corner of 14^th and Mission, between Mission and Julian, contains approximately 150,000 square feet of usable floor area, including basement, that was built in 1900 and has historic designation status. It was flooded for 10 years and requires a great deal of expensive site work, beyond the basic improvements for Departmental occupancy. This site was originally purchased for an Internet server motel, but that use is no longer considered viable. Surrounded by a very vocal community, it is the subject of a land-use planning controversy where better neighborhood planning controls are sought.

The selection of a site for a combined training facility will require the Department to evaluate its training needs and opportunities for more efficiently and effectively delivering training services at a single location. Once a conceptual program is defined, the Department should enlist assistance from the Department of Real Estate to identify potential sites that would best accommodate these needs. Because it is probable that no site will meet all of the Department"s needs, management needs to assess the relative costs and benefits of each alternative, and identify those which would reasonably meet its needs at the lowest possible costs.

Because the Presidio site will no longer be available to the Department in the near future, planning for replacement and relocation of that training space should commence immediately. This provides an opportunity for the Department to explore the potential for consolidating all training functions at a single location, as described in this report.

To initiate this planning process, the Fire Department should develop a preliminary set of training facility specifications for use in the development of general site and locational requirements for a combined training facility. Once such specifications are developed, the Real Estate Division should be requested to explore potential sites which would generally meet the needs expressed by the Fire Department (e.g., location and proximity to the City core, acreage, existing structures, etc.).

Based on the results of this initial site budanalyst, the Fire Department should work with the Real Estate Department and design consultants to prepare a cost benefit budanalyst of each site. The Fire Department should be requested to submit this budanalyst to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors with one year from the date of this report.

This budanalyst should include all aspects of the alternative development opportunities, including offsetting financial benefits to be derived from the sale or transfer of the Folsom Street property to another City agency, reduced lease costs (including future costs of inflation), and potential operational benefits from a combined facility. The Department now spends over $2 million annually in lease costs, which would completely offset the purchase of a facility valued a $60 million (assuming a 30-year useful life, based on present value). By adding inflation to the current $2 million lease expenditure, the savings is even greater.

Conclusions

The Fire Department"s current training facilities are located at three different sites, two of which are in the core area of San Francisco and the third is at Treasure Island.

Other than logistical matters associated with performing a common function at separate sites, many opportunities for providing training in a seamless manner are lost, and overall training costs are higher than they might otherwise be if provided from an integrated facility.

Although Treasure Island is not the preferred location for a combined training facility, it is a workable alternative which should be considered along with others.

Therefore, the Fire Department should develop specifications for a combined training facility, work with the Department of Real Estate to identify and obtain such a site, and compare those results with the option of operating a combined training facility at Treasure Island. This analysis should also consider maximizing the value of the owned Fire College site. Additionally, the Department should evaluate possible administrative changes and other resource-sharing opportunities that can be implemented to achieve improved cost effectiveness in training.

Costs cannot be determined at this time because of inadequate information on alternatives. However, the operational benefits of an alternative plan should include economies of scale, reinforcement of the Department"s multifaceted role (fire suppression and medical services), better utilization of trainers, and more effective utilization of current Department-owned properties.

Recommendations

The San Francisco Fire Department should

1.5.1 Develop a set of specifications regarding desired land area, improvements and other special features of a site to accommodate a combined training facility.

1.5.2 Evaluate possible administrative changes and resource-sharing opportunities that can be implemented to achieve improved cost effectiveness in training.

1.5.3 Work closely with the Department of Real Estate (DRE) to identify and obtain a site within the City and County of San Francisco that generally meets the newly developed specifications.

1.5.4 Working with the Department of Real Estate and design consultants, prepare a cost benefit budanalyst of alternatives for centralizing training and present it to the Fire Commission prior to forwarding it to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors.

1.5.5 Include all aspects of the alternative development opportunities, including offsetting financial benefits to be derived from the sale or transfer of the Folsom Street property to another City agency, reduced lease costs and potential operational benefits to be derived from the combined facility.

1.5.6 Submit the completed budanalyst of alternatives to the Fire Commission within one year of the date of this report.

Cost and Benefits

Some costs would be incurred by the Department of Real Estate and for design consultants, for the development of the report on training site consolidation. However, such costs cannot be reliably estimated at this time.

The Department would be better positioned to replace training space at the Presidio property that may be lost in the short term, and for achieving potential cost savings and efficiencies that could result from the consolidation of training space at a single location. While total savings cannot be determined at this time, they could be substantial. The present value of the Treasure Island lease is $60 million over the expected useful life of a new facility, and the value of the Folsom Street property is substantial.

¹ EMS In-Service Training provides a broad range of instruction, including CPR and ACLS re-certification, healthy heart and heart attack information, return-to-duty training for medics and Emergency Medical Technicians, make-up modules for missed modules, National Registry Re-certification, and basic probationary training. This is accomplished and tracked by the number of training hours provided. A typical schedule shows, on average, that 3,000 hours of training are provided to approximately 400 Fire Department employees each month.

² The Department of Real Estate previously explored sites, including Treasure Island, as a possible joint Fire Department and Police Department training facility. The intent was to free up for alternate use or possible sale the 4.48-acre Police Academy site at 350 Amber Drive in Diamond Heights. However, the project was abandoned for undetermined reasons.