Blunt talk from two of the island’s top first responders.
It may only be the middle of July, but Rescue Squad Capt. Tracy Fredericks said her small staff of EMTs was “run ragged” on Saturday with constant calls to accidents and injuries between 2 p.m. and 4 a.m. She said a Coast Guard boat came over at 4 a.m. to help with a situation.
“I think it’s just really out of control,” said Fredericks to The Block Island Times on Sunday, July 19. “There are too many people here.”
Police Chief Vin Carlone said that this weekend one of his officers was bitten by someone being taken into custody, and that the injury required stitches.
Carlone sent out a message to Gov. Gina Raimondo, who limited crowds at two state beaches last week, to consider the impact those mainland decisions have on Block Island.
“She needs to be sensitive to the fact that we can’t take the overflows,” said Carlone, who also spoke to The Times on Sunday.
Carlone was also sharply critical of mainland parents who he said were allowing groups of young teens to come to the island without adult supervision. “We’re not babysitters,” he said.
