Emergency Drill Will Evacuate Ferry Building Morning of August 19

Want to receive Sausalito event updates via email? Subscribe in the box at the upper right! We never ever share or sell email addresses.

Emergency Drill Will Evacuate Ferry Building Morning of August 19

Let's see… already this month we've had a TV show film crew crashing cars into crowds of extras in Justin Herman Plaza, and parachutists trailing smoke trails as they drop in on the Embarcadero (pictured below) near the Ferry Building and Pier 39. How can we top that for Sausalito Ferry passengers?

Those events have been taking place primarily mid-day and afternoon. But next Wednesday, August 19 at 8:00 AM there will be an earthquake preparedness training exercise for employees, public safety personnel and travelers at the San Francisco Ferry Building.

The drill is scheduled to take about 45 minutes and will include the evacuation of all Ferry Building customers and business tenants to the Embarcadero and "Gandhi Plaza" in front of the Ferry Terminal behind the Ferry Building.

If you take the 7:10 AM (yawn) Golden Gate ferry from Sausalito you'll probably get through before all the fun begins. But the 8:20 AM ferry may arrive while the building is evacuated and crowds surround the building, so be prepared to allow extra time for getting to work. This event does not affect the Blue & Gold ferries, which use the same dock in Sausalito but disembark 1.7 miles from the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

And since we're describing the hassles this drill will cause, we also have to say that this is an example of the public safety people doing their jobs. Many local families (including editors of this website) are descendents of those who lost everything in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, and as we enjoy the beauty of California we also have to accept that every few years the ground shakes and we need to be ready.