San Francisco, CA – Today, Mayor London N. Breed announced that Chief Sandy Tong will take over as the Interim Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department. Chief Tong will replace Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson, who officially announced her retirement earlier this month. Chief Tong will serve as the Interim Chief as San Francisco continues its process to identify a permanent replacement to serve as Fire Chief.
Chief Tong has served on the Command Staff for Chief Nicholson for the last five years, most recently as Deputy Chief of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Community Paramedicine. She has helped lead critical efforts, overseeing the development of the Community Paramedicine Division, including the creation of the City’s Street Response Teams, which have helped transform San Francisco’s 911 response to behavioral health challenges. She will be the first Chinese American leader of the San Francisco Fire Department.
“I’m grateful that Chief Tong is stepping up to lead the San Francisco Fire Department, bringing her experience and leadership to keep the Department focused on delivering its mission of keeping our residents and City safe,” said Mayor London Breed. “Chief Tong is a strong, capable leader and I’m confident she will continue the standard set by Chief Nicholson while we continue our process to identify a permanent leader for the Department. I want to thank Chief Nicholson again for her service and years of leadership serving our City.”
“I am humbled by this interim appointment, and I would like to thank Mayor Breed for this opportunity,” said Chief Sandy Tong. “My intent is to continue to build upon the legacy of Chief Nicholson. I have the utmost faith in the current command staff and the members of this Department to carry on the great work they do every day.”
“I have absolute confidence that Chief Tong will continue to carry the mission and vision of the SFFD forward,” said Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson. “She is a brilliant and thoughtful leader and has a deep understanding of what it takes for the SFFD to continue functioning at such a high level.”
“The Fire Commission unanimously supports this decision by Mayor Breed to have Chief Tong serve as the interim head of the San Francisco Fire Department,” said Fire Commission President Armie Morgan. “While the Commission continues our process to help identify a long-term leader of the San Francisco Fire Department; we are confident that Chief Tong has the experience and leadership to keep this Department moving forward and keep our city safe.”
Chief Tong has over 35 years of experience working in EMS. She started her EMS career in San Francisco as a field paramedic, and later in the 911 dispatch center for the Department of Public Health prior to the merger with the Fire Department in 1997. She has served in various supervisory roles in the Department: initially as a Rescue Captain (RC) in the newly integrated fire and EMS 911 dispatch center, as a field RC providing clinical oversight to providers on the most challenging EMS incidents, and as a supervisor at Station 49 managing the personnel, fleet, and operations of the dynamically deployed ambulance division.
She helped lead the Fire Department through the uncertain times during the early days of COVID, ensuring critical personal protective equipment was always available for first responders, and developing patient care procedures to incorporate new or changing information to continue to provide critical care while maintaining first responder safety. She has streamlined the hiring process for new ambulance EMTs and paramedics, helped see through the various stages of construction to occupation of the newly built Station 49 ambulance deployment facility, created systems and policies to improve EMS and CP operations and administration, and successfully advocated for increased ambulance staffing to meet rising EMS call volume.
Chief Tong earned a bachelor’s degree in Sino-Soviet Relations from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. Chief Tong was born in the Chinatown neighborhood where her father was born and raised. Her mother was an immigrant from Canton, China. Her family maintained deep roots in Chinatown, and she frequently visited her grandmother who continued to live in the neighborhood.
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