Mayor Ed Lee and Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White inaugurated the fire rescue boat house. It's located at SFO and is the first of its kind on the West Coast.
Up to now, fire crews had to launch boats from dry dock to respond to an emergency in the bay. The new station lets them get to a crisis quicker.
"Will reduce that response time from what today is averaging around 25 minutes, to get some rescue equipment out into the bay, to something under five minutes, and this is life-saving," Lee said.
The airlines at SFO paid for the new facility. At Thursday's event the fire department also showed off its new 44-foot moose rescue boat, which can respond to emergencies at about 50 miles-per-hour.
