In a bid to become next leader of the Chilmark Fire Department, two fire chief candidate finalists were interviewed by Chilmark officials during a special select board meeting on Tuesday.
The select board interviewed Tisbury Deputy Fire Chief Marque Rivers and Chilmark Deputy Fire Chief Manuel (“Manny”) Rose, one of whom will replace retiring Chilmark Fire Chief Jeremy Bradshaw. Questions touched on topics such as the long-term viability of the fire department, its strengths and weaknesses, the candidates’ goals and leadership style, and how the select board can best support the fire department.
Rivers was sworn in as Tisbury’s deputy fire chief in June; his 28-year-long career spans the towns of Oak Bluffs and West Tisbury, and the Martha’s Vineyard Airport. Rivers comes from a long line of Island firefighters, including his grandfather, former Oak Bluffs Fire Chief Dennis Alley, and great-grandfather Tony Alley.
During his interview, Rivers emphasized the importance of collaboration between the fire department and other Chilmark entities, such as the police, emergency services, and town officials.
“As a new chief, my leadership approach would be listening, learning, and building trust. Chilmark’s a close-knit community and the fire department does not operate in isolation,” he said.
Rose is a deputy fire chief in Chilmark. During his 32-year-long career, he served as the Oak Bluffs Deputy Fire Chief. In Oak Bluffs, Rose also temporarily led the department after the 2020 resignation of former Fire Chief John Rose following settled allegations of sexual harassment within the department — a case that was settled out of court. Rose, who is also Manny’s brother, currently faces charges for attempting to conduct “electronic surveillance” on a “nude or partially nude persons,” and attempting to pose or exhibit a “child in state of nudity or sexual conduct.”
Manny Rose highlighted the need for training both within the fire department and with other groups, such as with the beach departments, to better prepare for emergencies.
“If we train together, we get familiar with each other. You put a name to a face,” he said. “They want to work together more, and the rest of it kind of plays on itself.”
The select board will announce its decision at the next meeting, Thursday at 4 pm.
