Engine Company No. 9 - 1915
Fireboat Co. No. 1
Pier 22 ½ (mapped location)  

San Francisco Official Landmark 225

Neighborhood: South of Market, The Embarcadero

Company History:
1917   Fireboat Co. No. 1, “The Dennis Sullivan” commissioned and assigned to quarters
1917   Fireboat Hose Tender Co. No. 1 relocated from Embarcadero at the foot of Harrison Street
1918   August 15, Fireboat Hose Tender Co. No. 1 relocated to Engine Co. No. 12, 115 Drumm Street
1918   August 15th, Engine Co. No. 9 relocated from 336 Main Street, their temporary quarters after the 1906 Fire
1920   January 1st, Fireboat Co. No. 1 disbanded due to lack of funds
1921   July 1st, Fireboat Co No. 1, company reorganized
1954   Fireboat Sullivan decommissioned, scraped and replaced with the Fireboat “Phoenix”
1970   July 1st, Engine Co. No. 9, deactivated and placed out of service, budget cuts
1980   Engine Co. No. 35 relocated from 676 Howard Street
1990   Fireboat Co. No. 2, “The Guardian,” commissioned and placed into reserve status, not manned
2005   Engine Co. No. 35 relocated to the quarters of Engine Co. No. 13, 530 Sansome Street

This firehouse was moved from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition when the fair closed. It is not known what the buildings function was at the PPIE. The PPIE was held to show to the world that San Francisco was alive and well after the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, and to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. The Fair was held on a land fill area now known as the Marina District. The fill used for this 634 acre site was the rumble of the 1906 Earthquake. When the building was moved to the bulkhead between Pier 22 and Pier 24, the interior was re-configured for firehouse use. Like most San Francisco firehouses, the first floor contains the apparatus floor, a sitting room containing an alarm board receiving and sending area, a kitchen and bathrooms. Located on the ground floor this firehouse also contains a private room for the captain of the fireboat. When the house opened, the second floor dormitory for the firemen was quite crowded as there were seven firemen and two stokers of the fireboat and five firemen of Engine 9. The second floor also had private rooms for the officers. The pilot of the boat sleeps in the ship's wheelhouse. To provide a mooring for the fireboat, a finger pier (Pier 22 ½) was built to the rear of the firehouse. In the early 1980's, a large repair and workshop shed was added to the finger pier. In 1980, the fireboat crew of then six firemen was cut from the budget. To staff the fireboat, Engine Co. No. 35 was assigned to quarters. Engine 35 responds to both calls of alarm from land alarm boxes, using the engine or fireboat calls of alarm, staffing the fireboat. If Engine 35 is at a land alarm when a fireboat alarm rings, the next nearest Engine Company is called to staff the fireboat. This firehouse remains in service to date, but now with reduced staffing. With an Engine company no longer assigned to the firehouse, the current daily staffing is a marine qualified pilot, an engineer, and a firefighting captain or lieutenant. Before the fireboat can leave quarters an engine company must arrive from another firehouse add to the complement of the fireboat.