After five years at the head of the Block Island Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, Peter Gempp has stepped down. Mike Ernst was elected Fire Chief at the department's monthly membership meeting on Monday, Jan. 14.
Ernst, who has previously served as a Fire Lieutenant, assumed the chair immediately after the election at the beginning of the meeting. He and all the other officers on the ballot were unopposed and elected unanimously.
In addition to Ernst, the members elected Bain Transue as Assistant Fire Chief and Tristan Payne as Fire Captain. Rescue Captain Kate McConville, Treasurer Mike Lofaro and Secretary Beth Rousseau, all incumbents, were re-elected.
Three members of the Department's Board of Directors were also elected. John Mott will serve a three-year term, Vin McAloon a two-year term, and John Jacobsen a one-year term on the board.
The meeting was well-attended, with several members who are Block Island School students in the room. “We want you here, this is how our department grows,” Gempp encouraged the youths, and Ernst agreed.