Three people ended up in the hospital this morning after a San Francisco Fire Department ambulance headed East on Geary Boulevard in Laurel Heights was broadsided by another vehicle traveling North on Spruce Street. SFFD paramedics in the ambulance were responding to a call, sirens on, when the second vehicle hit their passenger side. The paramedic riding shotgun was taken to a nearby hospital, although the Examiner reports her injuries were considered minor. more ›

According to tweets from Emergency in SF, a San Francisco Fire truck was involved in a traffic accident en route to the scene of another accident at 4th and Townsend in SoMa this afternoon. As our tipster reports, there were no injuries in the incident with the fire truck, but no word yet on the accident that prompted the SFFD response in the first place. more ›

OccupySF has been receiving notices of several violations from various authorities over the past several days, the biggest of which is the use of lead car batteries at the camp. The camp has been told by the fire department that by Monday, they'll need to be rid of their current power usage set-up, which consists of a car battery that's rigged "to an in-place bicycle as a way to keep laptops, cell phone, and other vital communications." more ›

Today's funeral services for fallen SFFD fire fighters Tony Valerio and Lt. Vincent Perez are expected to draw crowds of up to 5,000 to St. Mary's Cathedral at Geary Boulevard and Gough Street. This morning we've been spotting Fire Engines and Ladder trucks from pretty much every department in the Bay Area making their way up Divisadero for the procession that will stretch a couple miles long as it makes it's way from Cathedral Hill to Colma starting at 3:30 this afternoon. The services and procession will close streets throughout the Western Addition and Lower Pac Heights neighborhoods as well as part of Interstate 280. The complete list of street closures and Muni re-routes: more ›

Firefighter and paramedic Anthony "Tony" Valerio, 53, one of the three firefighters involved in the deadly fire in Diamond Heights on Friday, died on Saturday morning at about 7:30 a.m. Valerio, a Bay Area native, spent 13 years with the city's Department of Public Health and 14 years with the fire department. more ›

Update: The Examiner is reporting that the fire has been deemed suspicious. Authorities are saying that a trash compacter on the first floor of the building had exploded, enabling fire and smoke to spread up the garbage chute and travel throughout the hotel. more ›

The Chronicle writes that 29-year-old burglary suspect, Eric Miller, successfully passed himself off as a firefighter for a few hours yesterday morning at Firehouse 19 near Stonestown Galleria. It's suspected that he sneaked into the building at around 2 a.m., either when the firefighters were out on a call or asleep. more ›

Members of the community (i.e., Mitchell Engineering, Michael Byrne, Platinum Advisors, Webcor Construction Company, Boston Properties, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco Fire Commissioners, PG&E, and American Airporter Shuttle) have donated more money thus increasing the reward from $25,000 to $75,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) who set fire to a two-story Portola apartment building. The Feb. 6 blaze, if you recall, injured several SF firefighters. Any info should be directed to the Arson Task Force at 415-575-4444.
more ›

The fire department cordoned off Valencia between 22nd and 23rd to put out a fire. Bikes could still go through. Gawkers were in luck: they could have some of the best coffee in SF right across the street at Ritual Roasters while watching the SFFD get at it. more ›