Stanyan Closed To Traffic As SFFD Honors Battalion Chief Terry Smerdel

Stanyan Closed To Traffic As SFFD Honors Battalion Chief Terry SmerdelPhoto: Camden Avery/Hoodline
Camden Avery
Published on September 19, 2017

Traffic in and around NoPa and Lone Mountain are expected to be impacted through the early afternoon for the San Francisco Fire Department's memorial service for Battalion Chief Terry Smerdel, who died on duty last week after 26 years in the department.

Smerdel, who collapsed at work after responding to a call, will be honored today at USF's St. Ignatius Church at 650 Parker St. (near Fulton), where scores of department members and fire engines were congregating earlier this morning.

Traffic around the event was impacted along Stanyan and JFK Drive as early as 8:30am, with road closures on Stanyan predicted through noon. The 5-Fulton and 21-Hayes lines are also being rerouted accordingly.

According to ABC7, Smerdel was "someone who always had a smile on his face and was always willing to help out." He had just become battalion chief in January.

While firefighters are mourning, their compatriots in neighboring cities will be lending a hand and responding to calls in San Francisco. "If you call 911, if you have a medical emergency," SFFD spokesperson Jonathan Baxter told ABC7, "you may see a fire engine from Salinas, or a fire engine from Hayward show up. There is still a paramedic firefighter on that engine."

 For more information, watch this video from Hoodline news partner ABC7: