San Francisco Supervisors seek stronger fire safety regulations after fire damages Mission building for 3rd time

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco Supervisors want stronger regulations after a fire damaged a building in the Mission District for the third time in 16 months.

Supervisors David Campos and Jane Kim introduced an ordinance that would help streamline the process of fire safety and reporting after fires broke out at building at Mission and 22nd streets.

A shell of a burned out building has become the symbol for a slew of concerns in the Mission District. A fire broke out Monday night and on Tuesday it was the backdrop for the announcement the planned city ordinance aimed at fire safety.

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"We know that many of these buildings do not have operative smoke alarms. We need to make sure that there are smoke alarms in every room where someone is living," said San Francisco Supervisor David Campos.

Activists began raising safety concerns after massive fires at that building and other ones in the Mission District that displaced dozens of residents last year. Since then, fire inspectors, building code enforcement and health department investigators have been pushed to do more.

A group representing rental property owners also agrees with the proposed city law, but says it's sometimes tough to inspect safety equipment.

"We're also trying to acknowledge their privacy issues, a lot of tenants don't want the building owner in, inspecting the smoke alarm every month," said Janan New of the San Francisco Apartment Association.

Some Mission residents went after the fire department in particular.

"For six months, we've been asking the fire commission to come out here to the Mission. Finally, they're coming out tomorrow night," said Robert Hernandez, a Mission District activist.

A fire department spokesman said they welcome the suggested changes and cooperated with the new ordinance.

"I think the have been cooperative, but what we want is more than cooperation. What we want is pro-active steps," Campos said.

A fire department spokesman says they'll be introducing several pro-active fire prevention steps at Wednesday's fire commission meeting in the mission.

Wednesday's fire commission meeting will be held at 326 Capp Street at 5 p.m. in San Francisco's Mission District.