Tension Inside Oak Bluffs Fire Department Leads to Emergency
Services Separation
By JAMES KINSELLA
Following mounting dissension in the Oak Bluffs fire department, the
chairman of the board of selectmen moved this week to make the ambulance
service a separate department.
Selectman and board chairman Gregory Coogan said he made a
management decision Wednesday to split the two services, a move he said
was long overdue.
"I think there are inherent problems in the two
departments," Mr. Coogan said. "I think they have been at
odds over time."
The Oak Bluffs fire department received a $65,500 grant this week through the Department of Homeland Security to install a new ventilation system at the fire station that will remove toxic diesel exhaust from emergency vehicles inside the station.
Oak Bluffs fire chief Gilbert (Peter) Forest said the funding will be used to install the much-needed system. The grant was secured through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters program with the assistance of U.S. Sens. Edward (Ted) Kennedy and John F. Kerry and Rep. William Delahunt.
The little red 80-year-old Maxim Oak Bluffs fire-truck shines in its new home, a little fire-station off Wing Road. The newly shingled barn and museum is appropriately placed across from the much larger Nelson W. Amaral Fire Station.
Donations in the amount of $90,000 helped to house the truck, and now after a year of effort and fund-raising, they’ve run out of money.
A year after his court-ordered reinstatement as fire investigator in Oak Bluffs, Peter Martell says the town is not honoring his position. Last June a Dukes County superior court judge found that Oak Bluffs fire chief Peter Forend had no legal or justifiable reason for dismissing Mr. Martell. In May a Dukes County superior court judge ordered the town to pay some $35,700 in attorney’s fees.
But Mr. Martell said the fire department has not made good on his reinstatement.
The Oak Bluffs fireworks display, a cornerstone of Island summer every August, will be cancelled next year unless the town finds a way to continue the show, the selectmen said on Tuesday night.
Selectmen said the firemen’s association, which organizes and raises the money each year for the huge fireworks display over Ocean Park, had taken a vote on Sunday to discontinue the show next summer.
Selectman and board chairman Kathy Burton vowed that her board would “fix” the situation.
The cause of a Saturday night house fire in Oak Bluffs is still unknown this week but Oak Bluffs fire chief Pete Forend said on Thursday that there was no indication that foul play was involved.
Chief Forend said that about 40 Edgartown, Tisbury and Oak Bluffs firefighters responded to the 79 Linton avenue home of Maurice O’Connor and Beth Blankenship at 7:30 p.m. last Saturday. They took just over an hour to get the fire under control, staying until 11:30 p.m. to fight the blaze. No one was hurt.
A small gas leak at Church’s Pier in Oak Bluffs saw a quick response from the Oak Bluffs fire department on the afternoon of July 4.
Oak Bluffs fire chief Peter Forend received a call from the owner of Nancy’s restaurant at 4:14 p.m. reporting the leak. He said the leak originated from the holding tank at the fuel dock. The line was shut down immediately and foam was dispersed to prevent a fire hazard. A boom was placed in the water to contain the leak.
A small gas leak at Church’s Pier in Oak Bluffs saw a quick response from the Oak Bluffs fire department on the afternoon of July 4.
Oak Bluffs fire chief Peter Forend received a call from the owner of Nancy’s restaurant at 4:14 p.m. reporting the leak. He said the leak originated from the holding tank at the fuel dock. The line was shut down immediately and foam was dispersed to prevent a fire hazard. A boom was placed in the water to contain the leak.
