San Francisco’s newly appointed interim fire chief has made history. Chief Sandy Tong is the first Asian American to lead the department and is the first to run it coming from the emergency medical services side, not firefighting.
“I mean there’s pride there to be able to represent my person, as a Chinese woman, and somebody who has really close ties to the city,” Tong said.
Tong is just a few days into the job after the appointment by San Francisco Mayor London Breed Tuesday. She is the department’s third consecutive woman to take the reins leading the department.
Tong was born in the city’s Chinatown. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Sino-Soviet relations and also got her doctorate in organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.
Tong has 35 years of experience in emergency medical management, 25 of those with the San Francisco Fire Department. Tong noted about 80% of the calls come from the EMS division.
“Being able to see if we have the appropriate staffing to be able to meet that need and then wanting to look overall in terms of the way that the call volume how that rises the types of calls going on, how are those things changing or how can we better address what’s happening out in the streets and the demand for what’s happening in the EMS world,” She said.
Tong's background in EMS is also raising concerns in her new post with worries that she may not have knowledge to lead in a large scale casualty event. To that, Tong said she has a responsibility to have competent people around her, which she said she does. She said they’re all ready to rise to the occasion should they have to.
“I’m not here to run a fire nor am I here to run a multi-casualty incident as rescue captain. So my job is to make sure that they have what they need and should there be a conflagration or something like that, my job is to make sure that I have the people with me that are able to help address those issues in the moment,” she said.
Tong also spent the last five years on the command staff of her predecessor, Chief Jeanine Nicholson, who announced her retirement in July to focus on her health. Tong said she is continuing the work the department has already been doing which includes offering training to help her staff develop their careers and more.
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“It really starts with the people so really it’s who we hire and then how we maintain them,” Tong said. “We’re always wanting to increase the diversity of our department because it does it helps us better serve."
Tong's appointment also comes just months from election day where mayoral candidates in the city, including Breed, are working to capture Asian American votes. Breed did not get the endorsement of the firefighters union. Instead, former Supervisor Mark Farrell did. Tong said she doesn’t think her appointment is political.
“You know it’s her choice I’m here to do the best job that I can I do feel that I am prepared,” she said. “I understand how this organization works and I also understand what’s happening from the administrative side, from the organizational side from what’s needed for this department."
The fire commission and mayor will work towards finding a permanent chief. When pressed on whether Tong wanted the position permanently, she responded, “I’m taking it day by day.”
