The Oak Bluffs fire department received a $65,500 grant this week through the Department of Homeland Security to install a new ventilation system at the fire station that will remove toxic diesel exhaust from emergency vehicles inside the station.

Oak Bluffs fire chief Gilbert (Peter) Forest said the funding will be used to install the much-needed system. The grant was secured through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters program with the assistance of U.S. Sens. Edward (Ted) Kennedy and John F. Kerry and Rep. William Delahunt.

Tension Inside Oak Bluffs Fire Department Leads to Emergency Services Separation

By JAMES KINSELLA

Following mounting dissension in the Oak Bluffs fire department, the chairman of the board of selectmen moved this week to make the ambulance service a separate department.

Selectman and board chairman Gregory Coogan said he made a management decision Wednesday to split the two services, a move he said was long overdue.

"I think there are inherent problems in the two departments," Mr. Coogan said. "I think they have been at odds over time."

If a patient at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital needs to go off-Island for further treatment at a mainland hospital, chances are the Oak Bluffs fire