The Block Island Volunteer Fire Department’s quest to find a better way to respond to fire alarm calls may result in a town employee taking over that responsibility, and much more.
At the last membership meeting in March, Fire Chief Peter Gempp and Fire Lieutenant Mike Ernst were authorized to approach the town with a proposal to reduce the volunteers’ burden by hiring a town employee as an “Alarm Officer” to answer alarm calls and enforce local ordinances. In a mainland town, those calls would be answered by employees of alarm service companies.
Gempp and Ernst reported at the April 9 monthly meeting that they had met with Town Manager Ed Roberge and found him supportive.
“The Town Manager was definitely on board,” Gempp said.