Improving the City's Support for Fire Victims

Friends & neighbors,

Since the start of 2022, there have been at least 20 fires in District 5 that resulted in displacement, leaving more than 220 residents—many of whom live in rent-controlled buildings—needing immediate shelter. As a tenant rights attorney who has helped hundreds of people across San Francisco impacted by fires, I know how devastating these fires are to residents. 

It’s a major issue facing our district, and my office has been focused on improving the City’s response. I wanted to share what we’ve been working on, as well as resources for people impacted by fires in residential buildings.

This past September, we held a hearing at the Government Audit and Oversight Committee, to bring to light the city’s efforts on apartment building fire prevention as well as support for victims, including current City protocols and resources available for those facing displacement.

What we found is that, while we have hard-working staff in various departments tasked with fire response, far too many people end up falling through the cracks. Simply put, there are real gaps in our city’s fire response, and I believe we need to be doing much more to make sure victims, experiencing the severe trauma of losing their homes, are getting the help they need.

One gap in our City’s fire response that became clear from the hearing is the need to make sure impacted residents have the basics – where to get financial support, information on their right to return, emergency food help, and more. Having gone to the scene of many residential fires, we’ve found that in the immediate aftermath, making sure residents know their basic rights is crucial.

So my office partnered with the San Francisco Fire Department and the Human Services Agency to put together a handout that includes the critical information that fire victims need to know. Now, in the event of a fire, first responders will have the following handout, available in English, Spanish, Filipino, and Chinese:

In addition to making sure people know their basic rights, my office is committed to doing everything possible to prevent residential fires in the first place. In our district, with so much of our housing stock aging, and wood-built structures (often without any kind of sprinkler system), we’ve seen far too often a small fire spread quickly to an entire building. 

My office has also partnered with other members of the Board of Supervisors to prevent residential fires. We were proud to be the lead co-sponsor of Board President Aaron Peskin’s law to provide fire protection standards for the charging and storage of lithium-ion batteries used in powered mobility devices (such as electric bikes, scooters, skateboards, and hoverboards), which passed unanimously earlier this month. My office also supported Supervisor Connie Chan’s ordinance requiring filing with the Fire Department records of five-year inspection of fire sprinkler systems and annual inspection of fire alarm and detection systems, which was signed into law this past week. And we have been working with sprinkler experts, including Sprinkler Fitters Local 483, to explore further opportunities to add sprinklers to mid-rise rent control buildings.

Lastly, while much of our focus has been on fire prevention and the immediate response for fire victims, we know that a major issue facing displaced residents is the timeline for return. Until recently, there was no explicit timeline for returning tenants to their homes or consequences to a landlord that fails to make necessary repairs in a timely manner. The Empty Homes Tax, a 2022 ballot measure that my office helped pass, changes that. The measure took effect on January 1 of this year. The law creates a two-year period for property owners to make repairs, after which the Empty Homes Tax imposes a stiff per unit tax on landlords that keep the units vacant. This creates a real incentive for landlords to fix units that have been subject to fire and get tenants back in their homes. 

As always, we welcome your feedback on what steps the City can take to improve fire response and prevention. 

In community,

Dean Preston, District 5 Supervisor