View Less-than-busy SFFD stations in a larger map
San Francisco has 42 fire stations, but at least eight of them are somewhat quiet places, according to a 2004 Controller’s Report.
The above map shows the eight stations which experience no more than three calls a day, on average. Three of them — Station 20, near Laguna Honda Hospital; Station 24, on Hoffman Avenue near Upper Market; and Station 26, at 80 Digby Street near Twin Peaks — averaged two calls a day.
That stations around the Twin Peaks area and near the ocean — such as 34 and 23, in the Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset, respectively — would experience less calls than “more urban” stations isn’t surprising. It also makes sense that some of these sparsely-populated-yet-somewhat-remote ares would have their own stations — trying to negotiate a Volkswagen up to Twin Peaks can be taxing; we can only imagine how tough a fire engine must be to speed up steep, narrow, twisting roads.
Still, with the Fire Department the target of some cuts at the BoS and suggestions as to where to slice and dice the Department’s nearly $280 million budget out in the public ether, we felt it might be helpful to show the public where the quietest stations are — if only to show where one might pet Dalmatians without being interrupted by fires. Or medical emergencies.
