New fire chief to be sworn in for Town of Sunnyvale

Sunnyvale to swear in first-ever female fire chief

SUNNYVALE – The first female fire chief for a full-time department in North Texas is set to be sworn in Monday night.

Tami Kayea, a fourth-generation firefighter, will also be one of five female fire chiefs in the state of Texas.

She replaces former fire chief Doug Kendrick, who announced his retirement in August 2023.

"Chief Kayea is not only impeccably qualified to run a department, her family history and penchant for the community spirit in smaller towns made her the perfect choice for Sunnyvale," said Sunnyvale Town Manager Jeff Jones.

Kayea has over 27 years of experience with Dallas Fire Rescue, serving as EMS section chief and battalion chief before she was promoted to deputy chief in 2018. She also served on DFR's Critical Incident Stress Management Team and Peer Support Team in addition to the Governor's EMS and Trauma Advisory Council.

Julia Falcon

Julia Falcon is a Digital Content Producer at CBS News Texas. Julia has previously written for news outlets across Dallas-Fort Worth like the Denton Record-Chronicle, D Magazine, 1080 KRLD and 105.3 The Fan. She covers a span of topics, focusing on sports and trending topics. Every week, Julia produces a show called "Eye on Trending," where she answers top trending questions.