For young boys growing up in the Sharps Hill neighborhood of Shaler in the 1970s, the fire hall was the place to be.
Brothers Chris and Mike Cavlovich and their friend, Rick Hilinski, all grew up not far from the station.
“We were always up there,” Mike said. “The fire station was the center of the community. There was a lot going on. There was the bingos, the carnivals, the street fairs. We were all partaking in it. It drew all the residents of Sharps Hill together.”
Rick’s dad and uncles were members of the fire department.
“It was the thing to do at the time,” he said.
“You’d go up there, hang out with the people up there, and when you got of age, at least 14, you’d get a work permit to join the fire department.”
When Rick got involved in the fire department, it became an interest of the Cavlovich brothers, who signed on as junior firemen.
“It was shortly after hanging out with him that we joined ourselves,” Mike said, referring to himself, his brother Chris and their two late brothers, Jeff and George.
“I saw a lot of guys coming up here doing their thing,” Chris said. “It was just a good thing to do in the neighborhood.”
Fifty years later, Chris and Mike Cavlovich and Rick Hilinski are still involved with the Sharps Hill Volunteer Fire Department. Township commissioners recognized them in March for their decades of dedication.
Commissioner William Cross said volunteer firefighters get the same training and certifications as professional firefighters.
“The only difference is they don’t get paid to do it,” he said. “They put their lives at risk to help the members of our community. It’s really exemplary, especially to do so for this many years.”
Rick, 67, is the current chief of the department. He succeeded Mike, 65, who is assistant chief after being chief for 16 years. Chris, 66, is the president.
Sharps Hill is one of six volunteer fire departments in Shaler. The residential area it serves had been known by many names, but its identity solidified in 1930 when the fire department was formed and the area took on the department’s name. It was named after the Sharp family and James Sharp, who founded Sharpsburg in 1826.
First located on Keystone Street, the fire hall has been on Berner Street since 1950. Its truck is blue and white, reflecting the township’s colors and bucking the idea that fire trucks have to be red.
Rick, Chris and Mike are all retired.
Rick was a paramedic for Pittsburgh for 13 years, during which he appeared in the 1993 Bruce Willis movie “Striking Distance,” seen early in the Pittsburgh-set film pulling a badly injured Willis out of a wrecked car.
After hurting his back carrying a patient, Rick became an administrator at the Community College of Allegheny County, where he was in charge of the emergency medical technician and paramedic training programs.
Chris worked in facility maintenance, including at Mount Alvernia for the Sisters of St. Francis and Thermo Twin Windows. Mike worked as a driver for DHL and then for the Hampton Shaler Water Authority.
Rick, who has one son, lives a block from the fire hall in the house he grew up in as the youngest of six.
While still answering calls as an active firefighter, he hasn’t geared up and gone inside to fight a fire for several years.
“Somebody has to be in charge of the whole operation,” he said.
Mike and Chris were two of seven boys — there were a lot of big families in Sharps Hill, Mike said.
Mike and his wife, Debbie, raised two sons and a daughter in Sharps Hill, where they still live, and have six grandchildren. Their youngest son, Kevin, 30, died in January 2023 from covid. Debbie wrote a book, “Looking for Kindness,” about Kevin, who was head custodian at North Allegheny’s Hosack Elementary School.
“My wife knew I was heavily involved in the fire department. She asked me to not become too involved,” Mike said. “After some conversation, I was able to talk her into letting me become elected fire chief. My wife was fully supportive of it. I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Mike also still answers calls, in large part because he can and needs to. Since the three of them are all retired, they are sometimes the only ones available to get the truck out the door.
“Obviously, the interior firefighting for me is a challenge. I can’t do and move as much as I could,” Mike said.
“I can get the fire truck there. I’m pretty good at moving water.”
Chris and his wife, Sandra, have two sons and two grandchildren.
Since he lives in Sharpsburg, Chris doesn’t usually respond to fire calls, instead focusing on taking care of the fire hall.
“I’ll go if I had to,” he said.
“If I was here and the alarm goes off, I’ll hop on the truck and go.”
While Sharps Hill lists 24 active firefighters, they, like many volunteer fire departments, are always looking for new members.
“Every department in Shaler used to have a van because there wasn’t enough room on the fire engine for all the guys that were coming,” Rick said. “Those days are over.”
While Mike said they need younger people who can do the things they no longer can, Rick said there are ways to help other than fighting fires.
“We’re always up at the fire station for training on Tuesday evenings,” Mike said. “Anybody’s welcome to stop up and see what the operation is about.”
They understand that volunteering can be difficult with having work and a family.
“I raised a family and worked. It wasn’t easy, looking back at it,” Mike said. “I just did it because I had a love for it. You got to really want to do it. It is a lot of work, there’s no doubt.”
As other fire departments in the region have done, Chris said they are willing to talk about consolidating.
While Sharps Hill has been spoiled by having the fire department it’s supported for so long, Mike said he is open-minded about doing what’s in the best interests of the community.
“I think, obviously, there has to be some type of consolidation down the road. We’re open to any of those discussions,” Mike said.
“I think everybody would understand in light of the cost of equipment, and the volunteerism is way down and I don’t see that changing.”