Pittsburgh\u2019s longtime fire chief, Darryl Jones, who was put on administrative leave in June with little explanation, will step down in September.<\/p>\n
The move comes \u201cfollowing a review of the financial, operational and administrative management of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire,\u201d Mayor Corey O\u2019Connor announced Wednesday afternoon in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n
Jones, 65, will retire September 16, 2026, after having served as the city\u2019s fire chief for 18 years.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connor\u2019s announcement did not shed any light on why Jones was placed on leave or the specific nature of the internal investigation that was launched.<\/p>\n
Last month, O\u2019Connor described the move as a \u201cpersonnel matter\u201d but provided no details.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I took office, I promised the people of Pittsburgh that I would thoroughly review all city departments,\u201d according to O\u2019Connor\u2019s statement. \u201cAfter a comprehensive review of the oversight of finances and operations of the Fire Bureau, I believe that it\u2019s in the best interest of the city to move forward under new leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones declined last month to discuss the inquiry that sidelined him. On Wednesday, Molly Onufer, the mayor\u2019s spokeswoman, clarified its nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe review was a comprehensive one regarding the administrative and financial management of the bureau, not specific individual conduct,\u201d Onufer said. \u201cThere was no investigation, it was a review.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones served as the city\u2019s emergency management coordinator and previously spent two decades with the Aliquippa Fire Department.<\/p>\n
The fire chief previously faced criticism for being failing to notify city leaders that he would be out of town when storms struck Pittsburgh last year.<\/p>\n
He was attending a conference of fire chiefs in Myrtle Beach, S.C. when an April storm downed trees, tore roofs from buildings, left thousands without power and led to the fatal electrocution of a city resident.<\/p>\n
In his statement, O\u2019Connor struck a conciliatory tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank Darryl Jones for his service and commitment to our country and the City of Pittsburgh throughout his career,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cHe is a good man that has done important work for our fire department and the safety of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assistant Chief Mathew Davis will serve as the acting chief until Jones\u2019 replacement is named. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh\u2019s longtime fire chief, Darryl Jones, who was put on administrative leave in June with little explanation, will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-244301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}