Gina Y. Sweat was appointed Memphis Fire Chief in 2016. Sweat began her career as a firefighter with the Memphis Fire Department on May 26, 1992. She was promoted through the ranks of the department as a Driver, Lieutenant, Battalion Chief, and Division Chief. Beginning in 2014, she assumed the duties of the Deputy Chief of Logistics and Deputy Director on an interim basis. Finally, on January 1, 2016, Gina was appointed by Mayor Jim Strickland as the Fire Chief for the Memphis Fire Department.

She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Freed-Hardeman University in 1988 and played collegiate basketball. After joining the Memphis Fire Department, she continued her education by obtaining a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Fire Administration in 2000 and a Master of Professional Studies in Strategic Leadership in 2013, both from the University of Memphis.

During her tenure as Chief, the Memphis Fire Department has focused on initiatives to improve operations, which helped raise their Insurance Services Office Public Protection Classification from a Class 2 to a Class 1.  Sweat also helped develop the Healthcare Navigator Program to reduce the impact of non-emergent responses.  She created a facilities master plan that has resulted in multi-million-dollar renovations to the 911 Communications Center, the Office of Emergency Management building, three new state-of-the-art fire stations, and a new fire administrative building.

Chief Sweat has focused on many health and safety issues, including purchasing SCBA with built-in thermal imaging cameras, on-duty health physicals, multiple carcinogen reduction initiatives, a therapy dog program, and an online therapy program. In 2021, the Memphis Fire Department became the lead agency for COVID-19 vaccinations in Shelby County, facilitating the delivery of over 1 million doses. Chief Sweat contributes these successes and more to the dedicated members of the department who make a difference in the City of Memphis every day.