THEN
Cottage City was once part of the Town of Edgartown. The village petitioned for fire protection in 1872. In 1880, Cottage City succeeded from Edgartown and officially became their own Town. In March of the same year the Cottage City Fire Department was established. In 1907, the Town of Cottage City was renamed the Town of Oak Bluffs. From 1882 until 1966, "Cottagers Corner", the small wood-frame building pictured above, in the then Town of Cottage City, served as a Town Hall, Fire Station, and after World War II a Police Department. In 1966, a new Town Hall was built across from the ferry pier at the waterfront, and the Town of Oak Bluffs sold the outdated building, which was later purchased by The Cottagers, Inc. To this day the building remains an iconic landmark.
NOW
We are pleased to continue our service that represents a combined effort of career employees and volunteers who respond to emergency fire and EMS incidents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Having a combination Fire and EMS Department has been a goal for some time. Although the two have always operated under the same roof, they remained segregated until 2014. Because both Firefighters and EMS staff continue to share the ultimate goal of safeguarding our community, we are extremely excited to have joined forces and work together as one full functioning Department.
NEW FIRE-EMS STATION
The new Oak Bluffs Fire-EMS Station construction began in September of 2014 and was completed in late 2015. The project by Dellbrook/JKS (General Contractor), Coastal Engineering Co (Structural Engineer), and Keenan & Kenny Architects, LTD took 321 days and cost $6.4 million. The new facility houses approximately 17,000 square feet of administrative, lodging, and training space; as well as a 10-door apparatus bay with space for 12 vehicles. The Station was named after who dedicated 56 years of service to the Department, 35 of them as Fire Chief.
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