Fire Chief Bids Farewell to City, Team

Tomovcsik: An ‘honor’ to serve McKeesport

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
December 16, 2025
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

(Submitted photo courtesy City of McKeesport/Jennifer R. Vertullo)

McKeesport’s fire chief left work Monday for the last time with some sadness, but no regrets.

“It was an honor serving the city for the last 21 years,” said Jeff Tomovcsik, who retired this week. “I know the city gets a bad rap, but I loved it and I wouldn’t change anything. There were tough days, there were good days, but there was never a day when I didn’t want to come to work.”

Tomovcsik and his wife, Rebecca, will be relocating next year to eastern Michigan, where he has taken a new job as deputy chief of the Midland Fire Department. The city of 42,000 is home to the headquarters of Dow Chemical Co. and Northwood University.

Despite the move, Tomovcsik said, he has no intention of rooting for the Detroit Lions and Red Wings instead of the Steelers and Penguins.

“... maybe the (Detroit) Tigers,” he joked, in reference to the Pirates’ perpetual baseball struggles.

At this month’s city council meeting, Mayor Michael Cherepko praised Tomovcsik and the level of professionalism attained by the fire department, including its cooperation with city police, code enforcement and other public services.

"Chief Tomovcsik encouraged firefighters to increase their training in rescue and general firefighting practices — pushing the fire department to maintain its gold level of voluntary certification with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Cherepko said in his annual budget message.

The mayor noted that Tomovcsik also had achieved designation of Chief Fire Officer from the Commission on Professional Credentialing — one of fewer than 2,000 in the world and only 54 in the state of Pennsylvania.

In an interview, Tomovcsik noted that he did encourage education and training, but added it was with the support and input from the department’s rank and file.

“You’re seeing a younger generation in the fire service right now and they recognized the importance of training,” he said. “They’ve gone out and gotten their bachelor’s degrees while working for the department. They recognize the importance of education.”

A graduate of South Allegheny High School, Tomovcsik had planned to follow in the footsteps of family members who were police officers, but found his calling in the fire service instead.

He began his career as a volunteer with Port Vue’s Vigilant Hose Co. and also worked as an emergency medical technician before joining the McKeesport department in 2005.

“I just enjoyed firefighting — I enjoyed it from day one,” Tomovcsik said. “I have no regrets. Looking back, I think it’s worked out well.”

The Tomovcsiks have two sons, both in college. Tomovcsik said neither of his sons intends to follow him into firefighting, but that if he were advising anyone who was pursuing a career in emergency services, he would encourage them to look for a job in the southern United States.

Pennsylvania’s fire departments continue to struggle with low funding rates from most municipalities, increasing demands on their services, and a limited pool of volunteers, especially to answer calls during daylight hours, he said.

“We see a lot of places trying to augment their manpower by creating stipend programs for daylight staffing,” Tomovcsik said. “That’s going to help, but between the increased costs and demands on volunteers, we’re going to have to get more creative. Mergers are not going to be enough for volunteer fire companies. They’re going to need to get some help from the county.”

Only Pittsburgh, McKeesport and a handful of other municipalities in Western Pennsylvania have paid, full-time fire departments. In a city where many of the houses are wood-frame and built closely together, a full-time fire department is more of a necessity, than a luxury, Tomovcsik said.

“Our infrastructure is aging,” he said. “Some of our single-family homes are 100 years old or older. We have a lot of landlords — a lot of renter-occupied homes. As codes evolve. We’re seeing a lot of older buildings that have older electrical systems and older HVAC systems, and as a result, we see a lot more fire.”

Two generations ago, McKeesport’s department and the surrounding unpaid departments sometimes clashed. That’s happily no longer the case, Tomovcsik said.

“Mutual aid is going to continue to increase,” he said. “As much as they help us, it’s important that we open ourselves up to help our neighbors as well, so they know if there’s a fire on daylight and they’re lacking manpower they can call us and we will respond.”

Tomovcsik, who also served on the board of directors of McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center, said he wanted to keep a connection to the city, even if he was no longer local.

“I’ll miss the city, I’ll miss the place, and believe it or not, I’ll miss coming to work everyday,” he said. “It’s a good city — I don’t care what anyone says.”

Originally published December 16, 2025.

In other news:
"Residents Press Board…" || "Report: Mon Valley Wo…"