It's a horribly wasteful policy that makes no sense beyond increasing the political power of the fire department. According to one higher-up in the SFFD EMS, t

It's a horribly wasteful policy that makes no sense beyond increasing the political power of the fire department. According to one higher-up in the SFFD EMS, this has to do with the software used to dispatch apparatus to calls. It was designed for a two-tier response (ALS v. BLS, as is used in many other cities) but since we don't do that sort of bifurcation of dispatch, it just sends the closest rig which is often fire. Beyond being noisy, can you imagine the damage done to the SF streets by having pumpers filled with water driving on them every day, and the damage done to the apparatus which are by no means cheap?