francisco fire department has evolved and grown to represent the community and meet their needs along the way. the division of training is responsible for training all new members entering the department, as well as develop, and provide corchlhensive fire suppression and emergency medical service instruction to all members of the department. this video provides a glims into the 130 recruit academy class 21 week training program. in preparation to take on one of the most challenging and rewarding professions in the world. to become a firefighter in the san francisco fire department. >> [whistle] >> i oknow there is going to be a lot of shoveling and it will not come easy. i know it will not be given to me.

>> am i going to be able to keep up and do all the physical a pects of what the academy will request of me? >> on the hand you have been given a opportunity you worked so hard to get to, but on the other hand you don't have the job yet and have so much work you have to do to get in the field so it is double edge sword. i need it but this is just the beginning. [music]

>> we are entrusted with people. our job is (indiscernible) we want people to be firefighters. the chief picked the people. our job is train them. we make sure that we are challenging them, but at the same time supporting

them and that is a fine line, because we want to see how these people react. it is imperative for the training academy and training staff to make sure we are getting the best out of these individuals. i always tell them, we will challenge you, but also going to support you. we are not going to trick you into certain things but we want to make sure we make it difficult and make it so that you are performing at your best when somebody is on their worst day. >> the process is grueling, however, the reward at the end is what it's all about. we have 21 weeks to form this group of 51, and to functioning individuals on a working engine or truck company in the city and the challenge there is that when you walk through the door, you should be able to take care of business right away. when i first got on the job and hit the streets and got my first fire, which is 4th alarm fire which they throw a lot of people in the big building,

happened in the first 30 minutes of me stepping in the fire house. >> we hire a vast group of people with different backgrounds and experiences, which is kind of interesting as well, because it makes up our department and we have a kind of hodgepodge of people, but they all get taught the same thing. we have people from-we have a guy in the class whoofs a social worker. we have a person who was a firefighter, multiple firefighters. san francisco does things different then most fire departments but they have upper hand so we try to pair those with some sort of experience with people who don't in study group said. we tell them the first week get in a study group and that is a group for the rest of the academy so you will be the support group for each other. >> my name is julian martin a recruit in the 130 academy for the san francisco fire

department. the fire department what drew me to it to begin is a concept you are always learning. you are always learning something a92. now fire or situation is alike. no med call will be the same, and that aspect is something that is always changing is what drew me to it. when i was 19 i enlisted in the united states army and was in college at the time, so i was enrolled simultaneous in the reserve officer corp training out of leehigh university. i was (indiscernible) and lee high university and completed by bachelors, but commissioned out of lee high university as a officer in the california national guard. when i graduatesed i immediately went to fort (indiscernible) missouri to complete training for being a chemical officer which is (indiscernible) i think my background in chemical hazmat with the army was beneficial and the

department as well. >> high energy,b that is how i categorize julian. high energy and ability. she is very capable. >> she is one of those people pretty much anything she tries she can do well. she is a musician also. she is a artist. >> she is the kind of person that push other people to be the best version of themselves, just because she also wants to be the best version of herself. she is a very dedicated individual, and it was a treat but also a challenge because that is the way she is. very competitive and ambitious. >> emily-i am a recruit with the san francisco fire department. i remember how do i become a firefighter in a major city? i typed that into

google and a lot of things came up. getting certification like firefighter 1, emt, paramedic jz these are things i knew nothing about so a lot of research. for me having lived in california and visited the bay area many times i said to myself, i decided the pentacle for me of being a structure firefighter, being a city firefighter which coming to san francisco. i am originally from new england. i grew up in a traditional town in new hampshire. when can i was a kid i never had fire fighting on my radar. never something i thought about doing. when i in college i studied environmental conversation. i always appreciated the outdoors and really cared a lot about protecting the outdoors, so for years after college i worked with kids in the

outdoor education, so taking kids on backpacking trips, takes kids on hiking trips, and just helping them develop appreciation for the outdoors. it was basically a opportunity to not have a desk job and for years i was chasing that job that didn't involve sitting at a desk and be outside with people which makes sense it leads me to firefighter. next thing i knew i was heading up to alaska to be a firefighter. that was the switch and never looked back. >> emily is a person that very much someone who cares about other people and will put other people needs before her own. she is extremely caring and thoughtful. i also think she is extremely adventurous as well. i remember when we first met, when we were living in yosemite being in ah

of her adventurous side. >> my name is jenna. everybody called johnny for short and i'm a recruit with the 130 academy for san francisco fire department. city girl, born and raised in san francisco. literally my entire schooling has been right here in the city of san francisco, and so that's part of me and part of my identity, and what keeps me so grounded to the city i was raise d in. my brother is a firefighter and he has been a firefighter many years. he is absolutely-he loves his job and always has tried to bring people along with him. those he loves and that he thinks would be fit for the

job. >> i told this lady about this service and about this career path back when she was 22 years old after graduating from usf, i tried to put in her ear, i think you would be incredible at this profession and she said i'll think about it. >> that is always something in my ear, but to be honest, my encounter with the fire department that kind of sparked thinthe reason as to why i wanted to become a firefighter, because at the age of 15 i lost my mother to gun violence and it was the fire department when they came to my home, it was the reaction of the firefighters that i felt cold. their reaction to my situation. i didn't feel support. that is just my perspective of the

instant it happened, but that is something that stuck with me. i don't want someone like me to go through what i went through because i know how that felt. i took the leap of faith and i said i'm going to change my career entirely, but now i see for myself just within my recruit class that there is a lot of diversity. it was really comforting to me to see that and know that these are the people who are going to be my first family, because we share a special bond. >> she was ready. she was hungry, and she-every drill we did, every practice we did, all the exercising she was doing, she was hungry for it. i couldn't possibly be more proud of her. >> a real basic building block

is just like crawl walk run. our crawling stage is like just putting your gear on. we have our ppe, which is about 20pounds, the packs are 20 pounds. just those two alone you throw on 40 pounds of weight and by the end of the academy we have your ppe on, go on (indiscernible) breathe through the bottle, climb up a ladder, crawl through a window, search fwr a victim, bring the victim through the window and extricate through the window. the progression of the testing ramp up pretty quickly. in the 10 week cycle it seems like a long time, but for the recruit you can ask them i'm telling you it is a rigorous academy and keeps on getting harder. >> academy starts at 8 o'clock. we do our pt. whatever it may be, whether it is running in a circuit or amazing raise, and are that lasts anywhere from a hour to hour and 30.

from there we go to a class room. we learn about the different chapters, whether it is (indiscernible) hose appliances, building construction, whatever it may be. that usually takes us to lunch and from there we get separated into skills groups. >> (indiscernible) how many victims. >> which we have typically about 4 rotations of the different skills we get touches. >> it is still very early in the process. if you envision each class like a bell curve where most in the middle, if you have a class with really long tails those are harder to train, because you have people at the back end who are really struggling. this class seems to have altails. i don't see anybody struggling yet. i dont see anybody truly standing out. but again, it is

early. we haven't done any testing yet. >> i am learning a lot with fellow class mates. they need me and i need them and the really difficult evolution and training and the first couple days are crucial to understanding like how people react to certain situations because not everybody is the best under pressure. not everybody is the best tying a knot about there are some that are super fast with hose lines. finding everybody strong point and emphasize those and use to our advantage is important in the first couple weeks. >> something that challenged me probably the most and has been probably the biggest learning curve is really focusing on the ability to let go of something when it doesn't go well in the moment and move to the next thing. that i think has been one of the biggest challenges in this academy,

because the realty is you make a lot of mistakes every day. you do a lot of things well too, but you make a lot of mistakes and if you hold on to each one of those mistakes it is just going to snow ball into more mistakes and it will lead to more stress and being hard on yourself. >> i had to learn a lot of different new skill sets. things i wasn't familiar with like chain saws how to hose lines and so getting the technique because a lot of the job is about the technique. it is not about having the brute strength or anything like that, it is using your body mechanics to your advantage. >> when my body cools down (indiscernible)

[music] >> we have the academy set up it gives everybody the opportunity to practice the skill set they need to. san francisco is its own entity. we pride ourselves on the traditional fire department in the sense we still use

brass fittings, wooden latters, surrounded by three sides of water so all risk fire department. you can go downtown busy high-rise, out to the coast for surf rescue. we have a mix of everything and we all have to be well-rounded firefighters and that is our entire job to make sure that we are profeshant. >> as we train our roles will be to evaluate along the way. the role we have is to get them ready for fire house culture. to be a firefighter requires a fair amount of discipline. you have to understand the rules of the game. understand how to behave, how to appear, how to interact wi one of my roles is to make sure the recruits understand that and adhere to the codes of conduct and behavior the department lays out. >> okay, today is monday. the monday after my first big week

of testing. two double day testing thursday and friday. we had to do a ems skill, take a written test and 8 different fire suppression manipulatives. we got our report card back today and if you can't tell by the way i'm smiling now, i passed every skill that we had to do. your girl got zero deficiencies, so i am very proud of myself of being able to pass. >> you know, our saying is we dont fail people, they fail themselves. we give them all the information they need. we allow them extra hours prior to the start of class and stay late after hours, and we hope they take advant nl if they need help. they vocalize when they don't know something and

part is ego. if i want to pass the class i need to ask for help. there is no slowing down. once the training is moving it isn't stopping for anybody. you are on the training or off. we want them to pass, but they have to have their heart into it. if they think it will be easy that isn't the way it works. >> i want to speak about what happened on september 22, 2022, which was week 14 i believe. week 14 or 13. there was a big moment for me, because it was the week that i got injured. i had the ladder not completely fall on me, but it put my body in such a way it basically injured my shoulder. i had a little nerve damage coming from the top of my right

shoulder radiating down. from what i remember, the ladder was coming down and a sudden movement it swerveed one way and swerved back and i remember i couldn't feel my right arm. i tried to hold on to the ladder and it just basically just hit me in a certain position, and i fell over, and i remember feeling a combination of so much pain and honesty nothing at all. >> she had a pretty good scare of a injury, and her determination and just the way she goes about things. she is not very demon struative or outspoken but works hards and puts herinose nose

down and just works. [music] >> so, today is ou last day in the academy. i think there is

a lot of things going through my mind right now. on one hand, i feel incredibly relieved to be at this point. it has been a long 5 months. it has been great, but it has been really challenging and definitely really tiring, so it feels really relieving to have reached this mileston. >> we graduated friday and just feels really exciting. you know, speaking for myself, i think i'm preoccupied worrying about starting work soon, but i think for my family and my partner, i'm excited for them to be at graduation. this is not just a journey i have been on, but a journey they have been on as well. especially my partner. she has been immensely supportive of me throughout this process. on the other side of the coin, it is nerve-wracking we go out in

the field and do the is mixed emotions for sure. >> super excited. it has been a long long 16 weeks, and at the end i finally get to graduate, get to be a firefighter. i'm looking forward to most is taking our time at treasure island and bring into effect to help people. >> so many things that are going on in my mind at the moment because of the fact today is the last day that we are actually on our training grounds on treasure island. i cant believe i'm actually here and i made it these 5 months. getting in here doing the best but now it sibly do, is graduation is just so close. i'm just nervous. i created this family within the 130 academy class where we have gotten to know each

other and gotten to do skills together, but now when i go to my probationary home, now i will get to know those people and learn so many more skills and just get all the hands on experience and you know, create that second family. it has been overwhelming. just the amount of support that i have received. my family is my core and is my biggest support system and they have been there and have just expressed unconditional love and support every step of the way. [music] >> good morning 130. i know this is a exciting day for you, and this is just one of the many milestones in your career. i am really proud of

the division of training and i'm proud of you, 130. you took the lead and you worked hard. you worked as a team and that's how we always do it in the san francisco fire department. this is a proud department with a proud history. we fight fires like no other fire department. we are community paramedicine and alternatives to policing. we are firefighter emt, firefighter paramedics, but we are so much more as you are going to find out during your careers. i do solemnly swear, that i will support and defend, the counsitution of the united states, and the constitution of the state of

california, against all enemies foreign and domestic. >> today i graduated from san francisco 130 recruit class, and i became a san francisco firefighter. i feel absolutely amazing. i thought about how i feel graduating, but feeling it is crazy. i'm so so excited to get started. i will be in station 9 in the bayview. industrial part of the city and i'm extremely excited to do everything the truck does. learn how to raise and lower the aerial. get to all the different ladders and practice them in real life and apply them to situations that we are seen in the academy, but to see them in real life will be a brand new thing. [applause]

>> going up to the stage to get my badge, i was thinking about how sweaty my hands were. i was trying not to trip, and but in realty i was just thinking about how special the moment it was, and to be honest, it felt like everything stood still for a second, and it was a special time to reflect on the journey. i feel proud of my class mates making to graduation. i feel a lot of love towards my classmates and lot of respect and admuration towards the instructors. it feels good to be at this point after 21 weeks of hard work. >> i would say i felt an immense amount of pride for what she accomplished. having been along the ride, before academy, being a part

of the journey that lead up to interviews and then academy and getting to this point. i know how much she has overcome and accomplished. so proud. i'm so proud of you. [calling out name] >> to be honest, i am had a ball of emotions just running through me right now. it is like electric energy. to have all the overwhelming support from my family, from my friends, from everybody in the department, and from oakland department as well is truly just overwhelming and very emotional at the same time. >> hoping e-the whole thing is surreal to me. she pinned the badge on me when she was 15 years old and coming to today

and seeing where she is at now, i couldn't possibly be more proud. she has a heart of passion. she has a lot of heart . >> when i saw him up there, it was just overwhelming. i was like, i will not cry, i will not cry. i tried to hold it back, it just couldn't. >> the chief says, who will cry first. >> who will cry first? okay. (indiscernible) >> i'm supposed to be tough. man-- >> the last time i like to introduce the newest bravest san francisco firefighters, 130! [applause]

>> so, i'm now at station 9 on the truck. in the bayview. junk yard dog. the day before graduation was to ask questions what we are supposed to do and probationary firefighter instead of recruit. my first day was november 22. it was i was one of the lucky ones. i had my full weekday. i had 4 days after graduation to get my mind right, get ready to go to work. our instructors complaint us in the dark so we wouldn't know what to expect so when we got here, it's how we adapt to a situation, not so much-this is what will happen. this is what you need to do. i was kind of freaking out before i really haven't been

in a fire station before, and every single member was super welcoming here. i think the most important thing is being yourself. knowing when to contribute and when to kind of sit back and listen, because there is a wealth of knowledge around you everywhere. everywhere. i could talk to any person in the station and learn so much. i think i have been able to hold on to what people have been telling me a lot more here and learn a lot more in a lot less time. >> transitioning from graduation to being a probationary firefighters coming with a lot of changes. you learn the tower and skills and information and once you get thin field you realize how all those people come together in real time, which has been super cool to see how

it all unfolds in the field. i have been super lucky. i got placed at station 17 on engine 17 and i have just been super fortunate to have a really great group of folks to work with, who put in a lot of time and energy to help get me up to speed. >> i say with i first started the academy and was nervous and excited. there is a element of nervousness with being a probationary firefighter because you are trying to keep up and learn as much as you can. i say from the academy till now there is also a lot of confidence building that happened. the first two months what really stuck out to me is just how tight nit the station is and how much people really care about the work that they do and really pushes me i think to be better at the job. >> apparently i'm a probationary firefighter for the san francisco fire department, so the last 5 months i was in the tower in the academy lead me to

here of drilling, testing, requiring all the basic foundation skills to become a firefighter. now i'm actually actively doing it, but more specifically at the current house i'm stationed at, which is station 10, i am also the role of emt because we are on a als unit where there is a paramedic so i'm the paramedic backup providing them whatever they need as their assistant, but when it comes to fires i'm the one with the nozzle to put out the fire. me and my main concern is getting through probation because i don't have job security at the moment, because you can be let go any time if you are not meeting the expectations of what it is that they require from you. i want to be good at what i'm here to do in the position i'm

in now. the call volume i have seen during my watchs are 7 to 10 calls within a day, which is pretty moderate. i'm just waiting for my first fire. [laughter]

>> (indiscernible) step on it and measure at the shoulder. >> we talk about being a model to other agencies, again we hire very diverse group. male and female. as long as you meet the standards and are able to take care of the business of the fire department and public safety and being able to get along with your coworkers and all these stressful environments is key. you are not a individual here. we are made up as a team, so you have to be willing to listen. you have to be willing to learn, and you have to be willing to push yourself all the way to the end and you'll be successful here in san francisco. >> people ask, you just go to fires and-no, we go to everything. anything and everything 911 is called. it depends on the person and where they are at. we invite everybody to come try if they think they can get here, then

by all means, we are a great department. large department. busy department, and we have a things to see while working here. best job in the world to this day. >> we prep them as best we can. all the experiences and instructors and myself, we again our job is to see them-we want to see them be successful. we want to hear good reports. it is like being a parent. i are want to make sure when they leave we want to hear good things and if we don't want also want to check and make sure, what happened? i want to hear from now the probationary firefighter what happened and how we can best support them, because they are not recruits anymore. they are professional probationary firefighters and just because they left the tower doesn't mean we are done with them. i'm more invested in them now now that they are my brother and sister then a recruit because i could be

working with them in the field. i found a career i absolutely hundred percent love. it is very rare that you you can find a profession that you can love that much. i'm a public servant. i never want to forget the roots of what we do. we serve the citizens of san francisco. i'm serving the citizen of san francisco now by training new firefighters. by job is best prepare them what they will be going to into the future. >> in the community whether we are driving around, we are on a call, or shopping, the way that the community looks at us and looks at me is kind of surreal, because it hasn't fully sunk in. sometimes i have to reflect and say, you made it here. be proud of yourself. be proud of your accomplishments because for me i want to strive and do more and be better.

[siren] >> i would say first of all, we dont just employ firefighters, we employ everybody on the ambulance. emt and paramedics. firefighters and ems is a great opportunity. it is really important we have people who look like the community we are serving and that's part of the reason many joined this department to create change from the inside and we have done a lot of that and we will continue to do that. there is a place for you here as a ems, as a paramedic, as a firefighter. you just need to be able to put in the work. this is a big deal being in public safety in san francisco working for the san francisco fire department. it is a commitment. what better place if you want to serve your community then the san francisco fire department?

[music]

>> it was an outdoor stadium for track and field, motorcycle and auto and rugby and cricket located in golden gate park, home to professional football, lacross and soccer. adjacent to the indoor arena. built in the 1920s. the san francisco park commission accepted a $100,000 gift from the estate to build a memorial in honor of pioneers in the area. the city and county of san francisco contributed an additional $200,000 and the stadium was built in a year. in the 1930s it was home to several colleges such as usf, santa clara and st. mary's for

competition and sporting. in 1946 it became home to the san francisco 49ers where they played nearly 25 years. the stayed de yam sat 60,000 fans. many caught game the rooftops and houses. the niners played the last game against the dallas cowboys january 3, 1971 before moving to candlestick park. the stadium hosted other events before demolition in 1989. it suffered damages from the earthquake. it was reconstructed to seat 10,000 fans with an all weather track, soccer field and scoreboards. it hosts many northern california football championship games. local high schools sacred heart and mission high school used the field for home games. the rivalry football games are

sometimes played here. today it is a huge free standing element, similar to the original featuring tall pink columns at the entrance. the field is surrounded by the track and used by high school and college football and soccer. it is open for public use as well.

[music] >> we are open at mission shelter so we take any animal, any condition,

any specious from rucoons to cats to dogs to fish to lizards. we take anything. we do adoptions, which is a important part of our work, but it is a small portion of what we do. we take in custody animals which has been a huge increase in what we do over the years. a lot of the animals here are custody animals that can't be adopted. they come in here because domestic violence. we have a program called safe pets where we protect a pet from a victim. we take animals from people who have been evicted and burned out of their homes. because of cruelty and are neglect investigations. the last few years have been incredibly challenging for the shelter because we are at capacity for animals pretty much every week. we have a lot of partnerships. first, friends of san francisco animal care control. they help us with staff so they

give funding so we can have behavior and training staff and care and control. we partner with full belly bus. full bully bus does a monthly pantry and also partner with the sheriff office, the prisoner legal services unit. they help us get in touch with own ers that are incarcerated and may not know their animals are here what the process is to redeem their animals and also partner with vets and vans, which is a incredible low cost veterinary service clinic. we partner by giving them access to some of the veterinary equipment to help out, and through this we realized the need was so great that we partnered with cal for all animals and through them we got a $150 thousand grant that helps residents these veterinary services. >> through the mayor financial justice project, san francisco animal care and control partnered with sf human

service agency and the department of homelessness and supportive housing. we utilize their data base, income verification data base in order to check which clients qualify for needed services. we call the program gap so the guardian assistance program. since implementing we waived $190 thousand and we helped 556 program participants. humans surunding animals to us we provide resources through our veterinary access program, our guardian assistance program and food pantry, so that we are hoping that these individuals can keep their animals instead of surrending them to us, and we are able to utilize our other resources and space for animals who have no where else to go. >> we have always endeavored to keep pets with their families. that really didn't change. the response from residents that have been able to stay with their pets thanks to these programs, has

been nothing but grateful. most of-especially through in my career what i have seen is most people do not want to surrender their pets. they think it is better way to provide a better life for their animal but the best thing is to stay in their home with people that know and love them. all these opportunities can provide a way to look at it a differently, shake otthe logistics and get through the crise you are in and hopefully keep 84 family in tact. >> really proud of the management team at animal care and control, because they are creative, they are collaborative. they've got our mission in the forefront of their minds. how can we help the animals and the people who have these animals? they worked with departments from across the city, organizations outside the city. they pulled everything together in a

way that helps animals and their people. when things are tough here we always say we are not a bunch of different divisions we are one department. i can say it shows in this project and they show that every day. 18. >> if you're anesthetic think about a career with us in the sffd stands up a remarkable force to save lives the step forward we're not just looking for firefighters but people with the mind to tackle any exchange and oats heart to serve the public. >> i'm p from california and firefighter and paramedic basically grew up at the beach

surfing in the wilmar a lot and once i got into clerment i start to compete. >> my name is a ryan i was with the step forward and comprehensive swimming and from there went it school when my career took off. >> minimum miller a little you firefighter with the university of california berkley and played football for 4 years and after that, i was a undrafted free agent for that they played in the glamz and then with the cha >> are you someone with a passion for pushing your limits

do you thrive in high pressure situations ready to transform both a new career and my name is jay i grasp in san francisco and remembered with engine four i knew i wanted to nod do not an office job but a firefighter from a young age a athletic is like that in general working towards a goal and being goal oriented and this job, you know, are constantly learning and practicing i wanted to job where i used my body and could be part of the team so the firehouse and planning on team priorities on a team are different conditions and have breaks firehouse on is an engine or truck have a place

you can be together. >> i tried it done with football and didn't time to do football i choose this and found elevators between sports and athletes and the fire services a college or a professional team you represent somhing burn yourself and other people want to maintain a certain level of professionalism and i understand you have to have a higher standard. >> joining the san francisco federal, state, and local is making a difference in light lives of others. >> i thought through the fire department i thought under pressure the biggest one you fell in love with our medication and enjoyed the medical side and helping people. my favorite job putting anti fires and helping people

were put that many situation so getting them out and this resources they need and then having them at their homes. >> so i have come across my favorite part of the job i'll say show up to work and run calls and knowing that each day will be different what is the best part of this job. >> i'm on a side of paramedic. >> i'm an athletic and i'm a professional football and now a firefighter. >> i'm a firefighter. >> are you ready to answer the call and combooshg on a call

>> are you when you are. >> recording in progress. >> thank you. hello and welcome to the tuesday june 18, 2024 hybrid in-person and virtual meeting of the san francisco entertainment commission. i'm the commission president and we will start with announcements. >> we like to start the meeting with a land acknowledge. we the sf is sf entertainment commission, acknowledge that we're on the unceded homeland of the ramaytush ohlone land,