San Francisco Breaks Ground on New Fire Training Mega-Campus

The $270.8 million facility in Bayview will consolidate aging training sites and provide state-of-the-art drills for SFFD firefighters and EMTs.

Apr. 17, 2026 at 4:09pm by

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San Francisco officials, including Mayor Daniel Lurie and Fire Chief Dean Crispen, broke ground on a new $270.8 million fire training campus in the Bayview neighborhood. The eight-acre facility will replace aging training sites and feature a 50,000-square-foot scenario district that mirrors the city's building types, from Victorian row houses to high-rise towers, allowing firefighters and EMTs to train in realistic environments.

Why it matters

The new training campus is a major investment in the readiness and resilience of San Francisco's first responders. The consolidated facility will provide more advanced training opportunities to better prepare firefighters and EMTs for the unique emergency challenges they face in the city, including narrow streets, steep hills, and dense mixed-use buildings.

The details

The new training campus will include classrooms, fabrication shops, apparatus storage, and a rubble pile for urban search-and-rescue training. The site is being designed so multiple drills can run simultaneously and it can serve as a backup operations hub during major incidents. The project is funded through the voter-approved Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response bond program.

  • The groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 17, 2026.
  • The new training campus is expected to be completed in the next few years.

The players

Daniel Lurie

The mayor of San Francisco who attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

Dean Crispen

The fire chief of the San Francisco Fire Department who attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

San Francisco Public Works

The city department overseeing the construction of the new training campus.

Kuth Ranieri Architects

The architectural firm designing the new training campus.

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What they’re saying

“The new training campus is an investment in readiness, resilience and the safety of San Francisco.”

— Daniel Lurie, Mayor of San Francisco

“The campus is tailored to the city's particular emergency challenges, including narrow hallways, steep streets and dense mixed-use buildings, so training scenarios match what crews actually see in the field.”

— Kuth Ranieri Architects, Design team

What’s next

The city has already solicited construction manager and general contractor teams, and will shift into pre-construction while engineers complete seismic stabilization and other site preparation work.

The takeaway

This new state-of-the-art training campus represents a significant investment in San Francisco's first responders, providing them with the facilities and resources they need to better prepare for the unique emergency challenges they face in the city. The consolidated facility will help improve the readiness and resilience of the San Francisco Fire Department.