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First Posted: 9/8/2014 HANOVER TWP. &#8212; Tuesday will mark the first time in 35 years that Jeff Tudgay will not be officially involved with a Wyoming Valley Fire Department.
With the exception of a 10-year stint with the Kingston Fire Department, Tudgay, 54, spent the entirety of his firefighting career in the service of the Hanover community, beginning as a volunteer at the age of 18.
Now, the former chief of the Hanover Township Fire Department has hung up his boots and his helmet. Next month, he will relocate to South Carolina to focus on his career as a regional manager for Spartan E.R.B., a fire apparatus company.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to keep my volunteer card,&#8221; he said when asked what he might do if he heard a siren while relaxing in his Hanover home. &#8220;If I can get my hands on some gear while I&#8217;m still around, I&#8217;ll probably be out there.&#8221;
Tudgay&#8217;s dedication and commitment resulted in commendations not only from the township, but from the state House of Representatives and Senate as well.
Representative Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Twp., credited Tudgay as being instrumental in the process of consolidating Hanover&#8217;s six independent volunteer fire departments into one united fire district.
He leaves behind a functional fire department that spreads five full time and ten part time firefighters over the twenty-two square miles that encompass the township. In addition to the employed force, roughly 45 volunteers stand ready to be called when needed.
The department will now be helmed by 32-year veteran Joseph Temerantz. Also a Hanover native, Temerantz served in Plymouth Borough and Plymouth Township before joining his hometown department.
The transition of leadership should be fairly seamless, as Tudgay and Temerantz have worked hand-in-hand for the better part of the last 20 years.
Temerantz will be tasked with continuing the project of consolidating the six currently functioning volunteer fire charter stations down to one headquarter station with two satellites.
Among what he labeled as &#8216;a laundry list of goals and projects&#8217; that he and Tudgay had been working to complete are the improvement and acquisition of new equipment and the possible expansion of professional staff.
&#8220;We have no shortage of things we need to do so we&#8217;re just going to keep on working with council for the township,&#8221; he said.

Tudgay retires from Hanover Township fire post