SF Voters Approve Bond to Upgrade Fire/Safety Facilities
San Francisco voters approved Proposition B, a $412-million �Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response� bond that will cover the first phase expense of seismically upgrading a number of neighborhood fire stations and emergency water systems and construct a new public safety building in Mission Bay.
The Emergency Firefighting Water Supply System, officially called the Auxiliary Water Supply System (AWSS), is an independent high-pressure water supply system dedicated to fire protection. It was built in 1913 in response to the 1906 Great Earthquake. It consists of a 135-mi pipeline network, a high elevation reservoir and two large capacity tanks, two pumping stations, fireboats, underground water tanks (cisterns) and Bay water intakes (suction connections). The system and its core facilities are currently used throughout the year by the San Francisco Fire Department to fight multiple alarm fires.