Rhode Island fire chief retiring after 51-year career
By The Associated Press
HOPE VALLEY, R.I. (AP) _ A Rhode Island fire chief is getting ready to retire after 51 years of service.
79-year-old Fred Stanley, chief of the Hope Valley-Wyoming department, will step down later this month.
Stanley says he didn't seriously consider retiring until last year when he injured his back responding to a mill building fire and because he is approaching 80 years of age.
He said he's kept at it so long because of “the reward of helping people.''
Stanley is a three-time president of the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs.
The association's executive director, Richard Susi, says Stanley led several safety initiatives, including a state firefighting academy and the region's first hazmat response team. Stanley's father and grandfather also were firefighters.
The family asks that people wishing to honor his career consider donating to a scholarship fund named for Fred's father.
© The Associated Press / WLNE-TV 2015
