The State - News from Jan. 20, 1988

Michael T. Farrell, a 25-year veteran, took over as interim chief of the San Francisco Fire Department, replacing Edward Phipps who quit in the midst of discrimination problems in the city’s station houses. Farrell, 51, a deputy chief since March, will direct the department until a permanent chief is appointed by Mayor Art Agnos. Last week a U.S. District Court judge told Phipps, 57, that his department was torn by racial problems and was “out of control.” The department is conducting an investigation into the discovery of a swastika in the office of an Asian and black fire inspector in the Financial District.