McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko has declared a state of emergency following an early morning fire Sunday at the city’s Public Works building. The fire broke out at 1300 Market St. just after 6:15 a.m.The mayor’s office said in a statement four large dump trucks equipped with snowplows, a street sweeper and a vactor truck for cleaning storm sewers were lost in the blaze — all vehicles vital to Public Works operations.“I have to go up a hill, two hills so to speak just to get to my particular job as a caregiver so it’s going to be pretty dicey probably depending on what other bad weather comes in,” McKeesport resident Friday Schofield said. Cherepko said the declaration allows the city to “work expeditiously toward solutions, as the Public Works Department tends to city services this winter.” “I’m hoping that at some point they do receive the funds they need to restore all the equipment and stuff that’s lost because it’s important for us to be able to get out and get things done,” McKeesport resident Alex Ashley said. “Formally acknowledging a state of emergency opens up a variety of resources that we may need to utilize at this time,” Cherepko said in a Facebook post. “It also gives us more flexibility as we look to replace all of the vehicles, equipment, and even the building that we lost today.” McKeesport Fire Chief Jeffrey Tomovcsik said the city will still be able to salt and plow streets, but it might take longer without the use of the four large trucks that were lost in the fire. He said the city is resourceful and he expects it will be prepared to handle future storms. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of this fire. Officials confirmed that the structure was unoccupied.“While this is a very unfortunate situation for the City of McKeesport, I am very grateful that there were no injuries resulting from the incident,” Cherepko said. “I’m grateful for our firefighters, who contained and extinguished this fire — stopping it from spreading to our other structures.”
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko has declared a state of emergency following an early morning fire Sunday at the city’s Public Works building.
The fire broke out at 1300 Market St. just after 6:15 a.m.
The mayor’s office said in a statement four large dump trucks equipped with snowplows, a street sweeper and a vactor truck for cleaning storm sewers were lost in the blaze — all vehicles vital to Public Works operations.
“I have to go up a hill, two hills so to speak just to get to my particular job as a caregiver so it’s going to be pretty dicey probably depending on what other bad weather comes in,” McKeesport resident Friday Schofield said.
Cherepko said the declaration allows the city to “work expeditiously toward solutions, as the Public Works Department tends to city services this winter.”
“I’m hoping that at some point they do receive the funds they need to restore all the equipment and stuff that’s lost because it’s important for us to be able to get out and get things done,” McKeesport resident Alex Ashley said.
“Formally acknowledging a state of emergency opens up a variety of resources that we may need to utilize at this time,” Cherepko said in a Facebook post. “It also gives us more flexibility as we look to replace all of the vehicles, equipment, and even the building that we lost today.”
McKeesport Fire Chief Jeffrey Tomovcsik said the city will still be able to salt and plow streets, but it might take longer without the use of the four large trucks that were lost in the fire. He said the city is resourceful and he expects it will be prepared to handle future storms.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of this fire.
Officials confirmed that the structure was unoccupied.
“While this is a very unfortunate situation for the City of McKeesport, I am very grateful that there were no injuries resulting from the incident,” Cherepko said. “I’m grateful for our firefighters, who contained and extinguished this fire — stopping it from spreading to our other structures.”
