The San Francisco Fire Department will have a Chinese American leader for the first time, after the former chief retired last month.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed Sandy Tong, who was assistant deputy chief of emergency medical services, as interim chief. Tong is the highest-ranking Chinese American in the department, with 35 years of experience working in paramedics.
Tong isn’t new to the media spotlight. In 2021, she made headlines after coming back from retirement to serve as head of the SFFD’s emergency medical services branch.
“I am humbled by this interim appointment, and I would like to thank Mayor Breed for this opportunity,” said Tong. “I have the utmost faith in the current command staff and the members of this department to carry on the great work they do everyday.”
Citing health reasons, former Chief Jeanine Nicholson retired last month after three decades in the department. Breed praised Tong’s experience and leadership in stepping up to replace Nicholson.
Dennis Wu, founder of the SF Community Alliance for Unity, Safety, and Education and a Breed supporter, called Tong’s appointment a “timely recognition” of her qualifications in the paramedics field and a historic selection that represents leadership diversity.
Still, a fire chief with no fire experience might not sit well with the rank and file, according to Fred Sanchez, the retired deputy chief of operations. The upside, he said, is that the chief rarely takes direct command of fire situations; instead, it’s the deputy chief of operations — his former role — that leads the response to major fires. In emergencies, this includes navigating efforts around transit infrastructure, high rises, and water supply.
“It’s only a concern if [a fire chief] would feel that they wouldn’t leave the operational aspects to the people who have been on an end of a firehose,” Sanchez said. “Without having been in the field and going through the training for all that, it would be impossible to be in charge of all of those operations in the event of an earthquake when opening an emergency operations center. You have to take over very complex systems.”
Breed defended Tong’s experience outside of firefighting, pointing out that almost “80% of the calls that come into the department are [requiring] EMS.”
Tong was “appointed because she’s the most talented and capable person to lead this department during the interim,” the mayor said.