
Block Island is an island nine miles south of mainland Rhode Island and 14 miles east of Montauk Point, Long Island, New York. It is a popular summer tourist destination with more than 50 shops, restaurants, and hotels.
It is noted for its numerous lighthouses, beaches, hiking trails, fishing, and boating. The island covers 9.7 square miles, and access is only by ferries from Orient Point, Long Island; Montauk Point, Long Island; New London, Connecticut; and Newport, Rhode Island. The current population is roughly 1,410 year round, which more than triples daily during the summer months.
Fire protection is provided by an all-volunteer fire department with one station centrally located, according to Chief Chris Hobe. “We have 30 active volunteer fire and EMS members year round with some part-time paid people during the busy summer months,” says Hobe. “Our runs number around 600 yearly. We are really secluded as far as firefighting is concerned. For mutual aid, we have to rely on firefighters and apparatus to come by ferry from the mainland and could take two hours or more, by the time they are notified, muster, and come over by the ferries. We really have to be self-sufficient for a while before help arrives.”
Hobe says the department tries to be proactive with all its apparatus. “Planning for a new ladder began several years ago,” he says. “Our older ladder, a 1991 E-ONE Hurricane single-rear-axle quint, was getting old and needed to be replaced. The older ladder was a 75-foot quint with limited reach and compartment space and was more like an engine.” This time, the department chose to go with a 100-foot aerial and more compartment space, not only for the additional reach but to carry more equipment.
“We have a great relationship with our township and were able to go with E-ONE again using the HGAC program,” says Hobe. “Greenwood Emergency Vehicles is the local E-ONE dealer for our area, and we were familiar with them, having purchased five previous E-ONE apparatus from them.”
According to Hobe, the new ladder truck was purchased with the department’s downtown area, which serves numerous businesses with hotels and shops, in mind. “While it has a longer wheelbase than we are used to, and a tandem axle, it is still very maneuverable,” he says. “The new ladder is like night and day compared to our older unit. Our firefighters are still getting used to the driving aspect of the new apparatus, but ease of operation has been great.”
Hube explains that the new quint has room for more cribbing, extrication equipment, fans, K12 saws, chainsaws, air bags, struts, and forcible entry tools. The department plans to purchase battery-powered equipment in the future, so each compartment is wired for 110V and 12-volt operation.


The rig’s cab has three self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats and hand tools, hand lights, and radios. There is also a chauffeur’s compartment. The apparatus carries 900 feet of 5-inch large-diameter hose (LDH) and crosslays with 250 feet of 1%-inch and 250 feet of 2%-inch for attack lines. The ladder has a tip load of 500 pounds. There are tie-off points on all outriggers.
“We also spec’d out FireTech lights all around, which makes a big difference in scene lighting all around,” Hobe says. He adds, “Dealing with E-ONE and Greenwood was great. There were virtually no problems at all during the build, and service after the sale was also great. Our salesman, Brian Zarlenga, helped us out a great deal throughout the build process.” The department plans to order a new engine soon and a trailer with a 4,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump on it for additional capabilities around the island. The quint the new unit replaced will be used as a spare unit.
The Block Island Fire Department really needs to be self-sufficient in its operation until mutual-aid arrives. Unlike most of us on the mainland, who can rely on mutual-aid help only a few miles away, Block Island must rely on extra firefighters and apparatus arriving by ferry an hour or more away.
Designing apparatus that meets its needs is paramount when it comes to carrying the right amount of equipment and having space for the future as well. It seems that the department checked off all the boxes with this new purchase, which should last well into the future.
BOB VACCARO has more than 40 years of fire service experience. He is a former chief of the Deer Park (NY) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol, and several major commercial insurance companies as a senior loss-control consultant. He is a life member of the IAFC.