Mayor London Breed swore in new Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson on Monday.
Nicholson, who has served with the department for 25 years in a variety of roles, most recently as deputy chief of administration, is the second woman to be appointed chief and the first openly LGBT person to hold the title. Her instalment follows the retirement of Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, who led the department for 15 years.
“Chief Nicholson is someone who needs no introduction for those in the Fire Department,” Breed said in a statement. “She is a dedicated public servant and a 25-year veteran of the department who has worked her way up from being a firefighter and a paramedic to being a battalion chief and deputy chief. She has protected our city while fighting through adversity, and her experience and her resilience have prepared her to lead the men and women who are out there every day protecting our residents.”
Nicholson’s experiences in the department include second-degree burns suffered during an arson fire on Felton Street in 2009 that injured five other firefighters.