Bridgeport Recognizes Fire Chief Phil Hart's Service to City with Retirement Celebration Held in His Honor
By Jeff Toquinto on October 29, 2025
A large crowd of local, Harrison Conty and state officials - along with plenty of family and friends - gathered Tuesday at the Bridgeport Fire Department on Main Street to pay their respects to retiring Chief Phil Hart. Hart’s last day is Friday, Oct. 31.
Hart’s retirement ends a run that lasted more than three and a half decades with the department. Officially, he has spent 36 years as a 
member of the city’s staff and has worked his way up the ranks until he became chief. Along the way, he helped countless individuals and saved a few lives, including one person who spoke Tuesday on Hart saving his life years ago.
member of the city’s staff and has worked his way up the ranks until he became chief. Along the way, he helped countless individuals and saved a few lives, including one person who spoke Tuesday on Hart saving his life years ago.
That individual was Mike Conley. A young Hart saved his life near the current fire station on Main Street, and Conley was there to thank him 28 years later.
What a lot of people may not know is that none of what took place almost did not happen. In fact, Hart – whose family is entrenched in the firefighting profession – was all but certain he would not be working for the City of Bridgeport.
“I applied for the job after seeing an advertisement in the Clarksburg newspaper about putting your application if you wanted to be a firefighter,” said Hart. “I put in my application, but I wasn’t hired.”
Hart was not deterred. He was certain he would be a firefighter, but after being turned away by Bridgeport he figured it would be elsewhere.
“I was already in the process of looking for another place to go,” Hart said. “I was looking into testing at other departments when things changed.”
And that change set Hart in line for a position that would forever alter his path and that of a Bridgeport Fire Department considered as one of the best in all of West Virginia.
“As it turned out, one of the people they had hired ended up quitting shortly after they were hired,” said Hart. “The city ended up calling me and asking if I would be interested in the job. I was, and here I am.”
Where he is today is in the chief’s chair. He is overseeing a large department featuring dozens of paid staff and a Main Street station and a substation on Jerry Dove Drive.
“When I started, there were to paid firefighter to a shift,” said Hart. “There were six total, and seven counting the chief.”
The chief was the late Kelly Blackwell. Like Hart, Blackwell left the department after having a significant impact on it.
Today there are 31 paid staff, which includes the chief, deputy chief, training and safety officer, along with an administrative assistant. The 
building they were in was not too modern when he started, which is in stark contrast to the recently seven-figure remodeling of the existing location.
building they were in was not too modern when he started, which is in stark contrast to the recently seven-figure remodeling of the existing location.
“The old original building here was very, very tight. Some may not realize that City Hall was here as well,” said Hart. “We’ve certainly come a long way, and I feel pretty good about where I am ending things.”
Where he began was in Belington. The Hart family, there, is first responder royalty, where Hart is a volunteer and will continue to do so for the near future.
“Me and my brothers all became members of the fire department. We grew up in the fire department. My mother was highly active in the ladies auxiliary, so we were ready when we turned 16 to become junior fire fighters,” said Hart. “When we turned18 we became regular volunteers. It became a family tradition.
“That was a long time ago. Two of my siblings passed way. Just myself and my brother Mike are the ones left,” said Hart. “Everyone knows that in January of last year he was in a serious car accident in Barbour County answering a fire call so leaving here and sort of putting this behind me is a good day, but it’s also bittersweet.”
Hart said he never grew tired of the work. The reason for that, he said, was simple.
“When you come to this job it’s not like other jobs where you do the same thing every day. There is something different every call you go on. No two calls are ever the same in fire, rescue, and EMS,” he said. “I am happy to have been part of it with great staff, great city councils, and city leaders. I hope the community was happy that I served.”
Editor's Note: Top photo shows Chief Phil Hart, left, with Deputy Chief Greg Pigg after a presentation made to Hart at his retirment gathering Tuesday. Second photo, from 2016, shows then Captain Phil Hart helping to provide comfort to a property owner after a fire on Corbin Branch Road. Third photo shows Hart on the scene of another blaze a few years back. Bottom photo shows Hart with his family members who were on hand at the event. Check back in the days ahead for a photo gallery from the retirement gathering. Cover photo shows Hart talking with Mike Conley, whose life he saved decades ago.
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