Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones has been placed on administrative leave while the city conducts an internal review of the bureau’s operations, according to sources familiar with the move. Assistant Chief Mat Davis has been tapped to serve as acting chief during the review. Jones has led the department since 2007.
What officials are saying
WPXI reports that Jones was put on leave amid an internal investigation into how the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is operating. The station notes that Davis has been named acting chief while that process plays out, and that Jones has served as the bureau’s top officer since 2007. For now, city officials are keeping details of the review close to the vest.
Jones’ tenure and the bureau’s reach
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire’s 2023 annual report lists more than 650 uniformed firefighters and roughly 46,000 calls handled in a single year, a snapshot of the scale of the department Jones has overseen. The report describes the bureau as an all-hazards agency that tackles fire suppression, emergency medical response, and hazardous-material incidents. With that kind of workload, stability at the top is not just a nice-to-have; it shapes how the city handles everything from routine calls to large-scale emergencies.
Context: emergency-management duties and prior scrutiny
Jones has also taken on city-level emergency-management responsibilities, a dual role that has drawn attention before. In May 2025, KDKA/CBS Pittsburgh reported that he was out of town during a severe storm and did not notify certain city officials of his absence.
Separately, reporting on an EMS overtime scandal that resulted in firings late in 2025 has been covered by industry outlet JEMS. Those earlier issues have not been publicly connected to the internal review now underway, based on the reporting currently available.
What comes next
For now, the scope of the city’s internal investigation is largely unknown, and it is unclear how long Jones will remain on administrative leave, according to WPXI. In the meantime, Acting Chief Mat Davis is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the bureau while the review continues. Additional details are expected to surface as officials decide how much more to share with the public.
