Only in San Francisco would a firefighter describe his station as "shabby chic." The remark came amidst yesterday's somewhat embarassing press conference on the restoration of the Pier 22 1/2 fireboat station, made sadly ironic by last week's Angel Island fire. Unfortunately for the mastermind of said restoration, Supervisor candidate Claudia Cheng, these particular fireboats were not used to combat the Angel Island fire. (Do note that the building doesn't lie in her potential district, either). The Fire Department is moving forward with its own plan to seismically retrofit the station -- the project has already secured $2.2 million in financing from the city; developers will begin bidding soon enough. A political comedy of errors, no doubt. Oh, did we mention that the press conference couldn't be held at the station because A) officials were unaware of it to begin with and B) and the speakers were late, prompting several firefighters to step in and give their two cents to the press. Amateur hour!
· Fireboat politics [City Insider]
[Image via SF Fire Department Museum]
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