Safety concerns rise over San Francisco's new Capp St. barricades to curb sex trade

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's firefighters union is raising concerns about the latest plan to stop sex workers on Capp Street.

Firefighters are worried the barricades could impact their ability to respond to an emergency.

Cement barricades now block through traffic on Capp St. it is the latest effort to curb the sex trade that has plagued the street. 

Neighbors say those engaged in the sex trade simply moved or drove over temporary barriers like these. "That's what's happened," said Chazz Akins. "They've moved them, they've run them over, and actually."

In a statement on social media, the San Francisco's firefighters union Local 798 said, "Selfish decisions that put others at risk can have dire consequences...We had a large fire with rescues on the 300 block of Capp. If you were trapped in a building how long would you like to wait?"

Neighbors like Akins said the cement barriers are an imperfect solution to what has so far been an intractable problem. 

"I really hate the fire department has to deal with kind of [expletive], but it's kind of like a weird catch 22 where things need to happen to make things better."

MORE: SFPD goes undercover to curb prostitution in Mission District

San Francisco's fire department has issued a statement in response to the concerns "city departments and community groups are working together to address the issued raised on Capp Street that meet the needs and address the issues presented by all parties," they wrote.

Supervisor Hillary Ronen, whose district encompasses Capp St., said she is taking the situation very seriously. 

SEE ALSO: 100-year-old man killed in Oakland hit-and-run

"[We are] hoping to work together and address these threats to safety," her office wrote. "Our number one goal here is public safety, to make sure that everybody is safe, including the neighbors the workers themselves and we really want to be sure the sex trade gets off Capp Street, a residential neighborhood."

KTVU reached out to the firefighters union and haven't heard back for further clarification of their social media posts.

Hillary Ronen, the fire department, police department and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will meet Tuesday to discuss the cement barriers and work on a solution that will disrupt the sex trade and address any safety concerns.