. >> andrew yee was born in san francisco, raised in san francisco. and now serves san francisco as a firefighter. he also almost got priced out of living in san francisco. >> i went to preschool all the way to high school here and everything has changed since growing up. i think tech boom has really driven the prices pretty high and it's been pretty hig hard to even afford to rent let alone buy in san francisco. i think it's unfortunate, you have teachers, firefighters, sheriffs department police department, we want to be in the city we work in. >> the gap between the rich and the poor is growing faster in san francisco than in any other major city in the country. families in the bottom 20th percentile actually saw their salaries drop some $4,000 in the past five years. meanwhile, those in the 40th percentile, saw theirs raise almost 20,000. this group is discovering they can no longer find affordable places to rent or buy. with the cost of living sky high some city firefighters and first responders have been forced to move hours away and that worrie

so andrew yee is one of the lucky few who benefited from the program. >> i was getting outbid by 20%over the listing price, and a lot of them were cash offers. i was just lucky to get a house in san francisco today. i just moved in two months ago, so i'm doing a lot of little project there is on my days off. it's a two-bedroom, one bath, small little house up on the hill. >> reporter: the city recognizes it would have to significantly expand the program for any impact. andrew yee said he would certainly like to see the loan assistance grow so more public servants like teachers, police, and firefighters can also have the opportunity to live in the city where they serve. melissa chan, al jazeera, san francisco. >> vents in ferguson, missouri, sparked a protest nationwide. will anything come out of the demonstrations? we'll discuss that next. >> the decision not to indict darren wilson in the shooting death of michael brown has prompted protests across the country. in atlanta 21 protesters were arrested last night. several demonstrators blocked a busy downtown street. police say at leas