The newly sworn-in Mayor Daniel Lurie named his first major department head this morning: Battalion Chief Dean Crispen, a 34-year veteran of the fire department, will lead it as the fire chief. He will be sworn in on Jan. 21.
Crispen has served as captain of stations in Chinatown, North Beach and SoMa, and currently serves as a battalion chief. During the 34 years of his tenure, Crispen was recognized three times for bravery following the rescue of elderly victims in fires in the Tenderloin.Â
Crispen has also acted as incident commander at more than 50 major incidents across the city, and was part of the department’s response in New York City after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Crispen’s father is a retired captain of the department’s arson squad.Â
“Whether as a first responder, an advocate for underserved populations, or a leader fostering collaboration, he has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to meet challenges with both strength and empathy,” Lurie said of Crispen in a press release. “And he will demonstrate that ability every day in service of the safety of San Franciscans.”
This is Lurie’s first major department head appointment after rolling out a roster of key positions at the mayor’s office, including the newly created four mayoral policy chiefs to oversee the city’s 56 agencies and other positions in his orbit such as the chief of staff, policy advisor, chief of protocol and press secretary.Â
Sherman Tillman, a captain and the former two-term president of the San Francisco Black Firefighters Association, called Crispen “a fireman’s fireman.” Tillman, who has worked at the department for 26 years, said he has known Crispen for decades. Tillman ranks Crispen, who used to serve as a captain at several stations including Station 1 in Soma and other stations in Chinatown and North Beach before matriculating to battalion chief, as the “greatest captain in the world.”
Tillman, who thinks the mayor’s choice is refreshing, said it is important that Crispen is a San Francisco native, reflecting on the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles. “You need somebody who knows the infrastructure,” Tillman said, recalling that Crispen helped oversee Station 1 when it was getting renovated and seismically retrofitted.Â
“He comes from the field. He is not a bureaucrat,” Tillman said of Crispen. “He has a good conscience, and is not gonna throw you under the bus.”Â
“He is not a micromanager. And I hope the mayor doesn’t try to micromanage him,” Tillman added.
Apropos of Crispen’s non-insider status, he had to be directed to the mayor’s office by journalists while entering City Hall today.Â
Crispen is replacing Sandy Tong, the interim fire chief appointed by former Mayor London Breed in September 2024 amid the late stages of the mayoral race. As the highest-ranking Chinese American within the department with 35 years of experience working in emergency medical services, Tong was the first Asian fire chief, as well as the first fire chief without a firefighting background. Tong succeeded former chief Jeanine Nicholson, who abruptly announced her retirement on July 26.Â
Tong will assist in the transition leading up to Crispen’s swearing-in on Jan. 21. Her future with the department is unclear.
I am also Ricardo Ruiz.
Respectfully, I find your comment to this article repulsive, insulting and quite ignorant. YOU obviously have no clue what you’re talking about and who you’re talking about.
Chief Crispen is one of the most respected firemen in the business! He may have 34 yrs of experience, but still Hard Chargin’ like a 34 year old. Do not be fooled by his humble demeanor, his resume speaks in volume. He spent his entire career at the busiest firehouses, crushing numbers that are unimaginable. He’s one that exceeds the textbook definition of a leader, mentor and teammate.
It would be the greatest honor of my career to follow that man through the gates of hell and start fire attack!
I applaud Mayor Lurie for selecting Chief Crispen as our Chief of Dept.
I suggest you know the facts before you speak on something you know nothing about.
Exceptional pick. No one better. Anyone who knows our incredibly well trained FD knows that Crispin is the best person for the job. Lurie is showing that despite the lack of city hall experience, he can make decisions that best serve the whole city.
Tong was totally inappropriate. EMS as fire chief? Bye bye Breed.
Hmm. Not sure about the ‘San Francisco native’ part quoted.
Daniel,
Great choice, a ‘line’ officer instead of ‘Special Services’.
“If bombing the enemy isn’t a special service, I don’t know what is !”
That’s from Joseph Heller’s classic, ‘Catch-22’ to justify moving command of bombers over to guy who arranged parades.
As a former firefighter I recalled that line when Breed appointed the Ambulance chief to command the 2,000 firefighters we’ll have here for the first earthquake.
In fact, as a superstitious old Hippie I’m thinking the little quake this morning was Dennis Sullivan approving of the choice.
Who was he ?
Our blacksmith and dynamite man who became SFFD chief and died horribly in the 1906 quake.
Grateful citizens built what one foreign chief there for the opening called, “The best Chief’s house in the World.” in his honor at Center of action on Nob Hill.
Every chief deemed it an honor to live there until Hayes-White who stayed at her digs next to Daly City.
Nicholson followed suit and wen I asked why she wouldn’t live there she said it would cost too much to fix it up which is preposterous.
Hayes-White suggested they turn it into a Bread and Breakfast as Sullivan turned in his grave causing another minor tremor.
They kinda tried her idea and put a new department head up there but his lover tried to burn it down while crashing big jars of tomato sauce into the walls (minor damage).
Now, they use it for storage and I for one think it should be returned to its original purpose.
If this new guy won’t live there at least put a seasoned Battalion or Deputy Chief there to keep the fire burning no pun intended.
Seriously, am I the only one in the City who thought of Dennis Sullivan when the quake hit this morning as Lurie was appointing a vet to lead SFFD ?
Go Niners !!
h.
oh cool another old white guy :/
We need someone 34 years old , not a 34 year veteran . This is coming from a 41 year old . We need youth and young blood , new ideas and perspective . My age is good for mentors and wisdom . I have no issue of a 34 year veteran acting like a grandfather figure to the fire chief . Age comes with experience and wisdom that you can’t teach . Only learn from life of hard knocks . We don’t need the department heads to look like the old age home . Look at Biden and Trump . Even their kids are too old to be President . This is crazy .
He’s 54 or 55 years old, what are you even going on about? Did you read the part where he has been incident commander on 50 large fires across the city? That doesn’t happen to someone who is in their 30’s.
Funny, I am also Ricardo Ruiz.
I’m a proud member of the San Francisco Fire Dept. Your comment regarding this article was brought to my attention by several people.
Respectfully, I find your comment to this article repulsive, insulting and quite ignorant. YOU obviously have no clue what you’re talking about and who you’re talking about.
Chief Crispen is one of the most respected firemen in the business! He may have 34 yrs of experience, but still Hard Chargin’ like a 34 year old. Do not be fooled by his humble demeanor, his resume speaks in volume. He spent his entire career at the busiest firehouses, crushing numbers that are unimaginable. He’s one that exceeds the textbook definition of a leader, mentor and teammate.
It would be the greatest honor of my career to follow that man through the gates of hell and start fire attack!
I applaud Mayor Lurie for selecting Chief Crispen as our Chief of Dept.