Middletown Fire Chief Resigns Amid Staffing Dispute

MIDDLETOWN, RI — The dispute between Middletown town managers and firefighter unions about staffing at The Middletown Fire Department will proceed under a new fire chief. Middletown Fire Chief Peter Faerber announced his resignation late last week amid tensions that flared up when two were injured in a New Year's Eve fire on Woolsey Road.

Faerber acknowledged the dispute, which led to a contentious public meeting on Jan. 7, factored into his retirement decision. His final day will be Feb. 14.

Faerber, a 23-year veteran of the department, appeared to get caught in the middle of the recent debate on the department's staffing. The firefighters union renewed its call for a 25 percent increase of staff after a father and his daughter were injured in the Woolsey Road fire that the Newport Fire Department was the first to respond to with mutual aid as the Middletown fire personnel on duty were all tied up with a medical call.

Rhode Island State Association of Fire Firefighters President Joseph Andriole charged in a statement released on Jan. 8 that Faerber had been compromised in his ability to fight for the department's best interests.

"The fire chief remained silent while the town manager and town council threw the entire fire department under the bus," Adriole said of the public meeting. "The fire chief should pause and self-reflect about his abilities to continue to at the helm of this department."

Faerber joined the department in 1996 and was promoted to fire chief in 2017.

The staffing fight in Middletown came back to the forefront of public discussion on New Year's Eve when an 11-year-old girl and her father were burned during the fire on Woolsey Road. The firefighters union, and some residents, said that fire was another indication why the town needs to increase staffing to meet the needs of an aging population and the increasingly comprehensive requirements of local fire departments.

The town announced after Friday's council meeting that it had hired Providence lawyer Vincent F. Ragosta Jr. to represent the town in the negotiations that are in arbitration.

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