Mayor London Breed on Tuesday announced and swore in San Francisco's new interim fire chief, Sandy Tong, who takes over after the sudden retirement of Chief Jeanine Nicholson.

Interim SFFD Chief Sandra Tong is a native of SF's Chinatown, and has been a part of the fire department for 35 years. Tong was part of Nicholson's command staff for the past five years, as the Mayor's Office explains, and "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."

Tong becomes the first Chinese American to lead the San Francisco Fire Department, and the third woman in a row to hold the job.

"I am humbled by this interim appointment, and I would like to thank Mayor Breed for this opportunity," Tong said in a statement. "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’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," Mayor Breed said in a statement. "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."

We learned in July that Nicholson was retiring due to medical issues, which presumably have to do with an earlier battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer. In her announcement, she said her retirement would be effective in late August. Nicholson had been appointed to the job by Breed in 2019, upon the retirement of longtime Chief Joanne Hayes-White.

Hayes-White had been appointed in 2005 by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, and became the first woman to lead a major-city fire department in the country.

Nicholson commented Tuesday, saying, "I have absolute confidence that Chief Tong will continue to carry the mission and vision of the SFFD forward. 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."

Both Chief Tong and her father were born and raised in SF's Chinatown, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in Sino-Soviet Relations from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.

The search and selection process for a new chief, being conducted by the SF Fire Commission, is ongoing, and it's unclear how long it will take. Several previous chiefs of the department, including Hayes-White and Nicholson, were hired from within and had previously served as firefighters in the city.

Previously: SF Fire Chief Retiring After Five Years Due to 'Medical Issues'

Photo via SFFD