Following a review of the 2019 feasibility study to renovate Edgartown’s historic fire station, a town building committee has proposed replacing the aging structure with a new public safety building that would also include the neighboring police station, VineyardGazette.com reported.

A fire official introduced the idea to the Edgartown select board Monday, noting that the study also encompassed the police station and recommended that the existing fire station be demolished for more flexibility with the new structure, the report said. The stations are currently separate, adjacent buildings, located on the same campus at the corner of Pease Point Way and High Street. 

Select board members were wary of consolidating the two buildings, mainly out of concern for aesthetics, the report said.

The committee is still in a brainstorming period, with no concrete plans or decisions laid out yet. A police official said that while the police station is not in need of immediate repair, it may be advantageous to combine the two projects, potentially with two largely separate buildings unified by a common space, according to the report.

The town will continue discussion in a future select board meeting.

It is not unusual for a municipality to borrow money to pay for capital improvements or other projects, KnoxPages.com reported.

Faced with a purchase price of over $1.3 million for a new fire engine and medic, Mount Vernon City Council members decided to do just that at a special meeting on Monday, the report said.

What is different, however, is that the city will borrow from itself rather than from a financial institution. The city will issue bonds up to a maximum amount of $1,143,160. The money will come from the city’s investment portfolio, the report said.

A city official told the council that an equipment purchase typically would be done through fire department funds and is a four-year process to allocate funds and apply for grants, the report said. However, the department wanted to proceed now because the lead time for receiving the equipment is currently 18 to 20 months, according to the report.

Keeping it Safe Robert Tutterow

The fire service is currently addressing unprecedented, sometimes overdue, issues. These issues include post-traumatic stress disorder; cancer; human behavior; inflation; supply change issues; PFAS; staffing; recruitment and retention; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

These are critical issues that must be addressed and are being addressed. The Metro Fire Chiefs Association (consisting of fire chiefs of the largest departments in the country) have made DEI their key focus area. I hope they make an impact that spreads to all size departments.

One issue where truly little discussion occurs is customer service. The late Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department Chief (Ret.) Alan Brunacini was a strong advocate of providing good customer service. We are missing his voice on such a critical component of having a strong service delivery system. Is anyone talking about customer service these days or is it lost among other critical issues?

What is good customer service? The obvious answer is to provide a quick response and mitigate the incident effectively. To do that we must have quality training, well-maintained and well-designed apparatus, the best personal protective equipment (PPE) available, and the proper tools and equipment to mitigate the incident.

• The Big Picture
• Fire Service Icon Alan Brunacini Passes Away

But there is another element to providing high-end customer service, and that is how we treat the people we encounter. Brunacini was known for sharing his experiences when he heard from customers. Often, he received letters from citizens who had recently received service from his department. He said a typical letter started with three or four sentences about how effectively they mitigated the incident. Then they wrote three or four paragraphs about how nicely they were treated by his firefighters. In fact, he was known to carry stickers to give to his audience that simply stated, “Be Nice!” Being nice became part of the fire department’s culture, as it was stressed from the top of the organization to the recruits just entering the department. Brunacini would often share the citizens’ letters with the department to help cultivate the culture.

Part of incident mitigation included assessing the situation (once it was under control) to see what else the firefighters could do to help their customers, something they would appreciate—within reason. These could be small token-type measures or larger ways of being nice. For example, he shared the story of an engine company that responded to a heart attack. On fire department arrival, the man having the heart attack was in the process of pouring concrete. The on-scene company knew of another firefighter in a neighboring station who was skilled in concrete work. They requested he come to the scene, and he quickly finished the concrete work. Imagine the positive impact that had on the family and neighbors—and that was property conservation.

So, what does all of this have to do with firefighter health and safety? It might be a challenge to find a direct correlation, but there is, no doubt, a significant indirect correlation. When firefighters deliver great customer service that is acknowledged by the community, the firefighters feel better about themselves and their co-workers. This leads to improved hu