The City of Warwick has announced plans to relocate the Fire Department’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to a new location in the Potowomut neighborhood.
The $530,437 project is partly being funded by a federal grant secured by U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) to support public safety in the city. The city also plans to purchase new state-of-the-art communication equipment for the center.
The current EOC is a 70-year-old facility that The City of Warwick has identified as outdated and needing replacement. According to officials, the location also suffers from structural, logistical, and security issues that have been extremely costly to address over time.
The city has said that the center’s relocation will improve emergency response times in Warwick and surrounding communities. The new location for the center will be at the Warwick Fire Department’s newest station in the Potowomut neighborhood.
“When Rhode Islanders are in danger, they deserve swift assistance, and this federal funding for the Warwick Fire Department will improve emergency response times to keep Warwick residents safe,” Magaziner said. “I am committed to supporting first responders in Congress and ensuring they are equipped with the tools they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.”
“I want to personally thank Representative Magaziner for working hard and helping to secure this funding,” said Frank J. Picozzi, Mayor of the City of Warwick. “We can finally relocate our 70-year-old Emergency Operations Center into the fire department’s newest station in the Potowomut neighborhood. The funding will also help provide state-of-the-art communications equipment that is vital to improve our city’s emergency response times.”
This federal funding, secured by Rep. Magaziner, is among 15 grants totaling $12,883,568 for Rhode Island community projects in the FY 2024 federal budget. The full list of the 15 local projects can be found here.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
