Warren receives $2 million in federal funds for new fire/rescue HQ

By Ethan Hartley
Posted 8/3/22

Although the town does not yet have a place to put it, they have funding all sorted out with the assistance of Senator Jack Reed.

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Warren receives $2 million in federal funds for new fire/rescue HQ

Posted

Senator Jack Reed generated lots of smiles on Friday as he delivered news of his procurement of a $2 million earmark in the federal government’s spending bill that will help Warren build a new fire and rescue headquarters.

“Warren’s first responders, these ladies and gentlemen, get up every morning prepared to assist, face danger, and do so with skill and energy,” Reed told the attendees, which included a large contingent of police and fire personnel. “And the best way to say thank you to these ladies and gentlemen is to give them the equipment, the staffing, and the facilities they need to do their job.”

The $2 million earmark will bolster a $1 million commitment from the town’s own budget to construct a new headquarters for its fire and rescue departments. The current rescue station on Miller Street will eventually be relocated to the new facility, as will Metacom Avenue’s Engine 5. Chief James Sousa said after the event that the new facility could have as many as six bays for apparatus.

The town is currently in the midst of a feasibility study for a possible site of the new headquarters, located at the current site of Kickemuit Road Park — town-owned land located behind Bristol County Water Authority’s facility near Serpentine and Kickemuit Roads. The feasibility study is being funded with American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Chief Sousa said that the new headquarters would provide multiple uses for fire personnel to the benefit of the town.

“This facility will provide to serve the residents of Warren more efficiently by being more centrally located for EMS, having classroom space to perform and host trainings, an emergency operations center, emergency dispatch capabilities, and adequate space for the apparatus — as you can see they get bigger every year,” he said.

The new headquarters would also become a primary location for the administration of community services, such as vaccinations and Covid testing.

Town Manager Kate Michaud provided some figures for perspective regarding the fire department’s role in the community, reporting that in 2021 the fire and rescue departments responded to 682 fire calls, 438 fire prevention calls and 2,671 rescue calls, “Which includes approximately 420 calls for mutual aid to our neighbors,” she said.

“In addition, in 2021 the department answered the call to run and staff local and regional vaccination clinics, responsible for administering more than 14,000 vaccines,” she continued. “All of this was accomplished while sharing space with the police department, which answered over 28,000 calls for service in 2021 alone…With a new facility, fire and rescue will have a central, modern location from which to serve the residents of Warren.”

Chief Sousa, in his comments, mentioned that the Warren Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1802, and that the town currently has more than 100 active fire and rescue volunteers within its ranks.

“The dedication of the members today is as strong as I’m sure it was 220 years ago,” he said.

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