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December 18, 2007

State EMA director Warren fired in storm's wake

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri announced that the employment of Robert Warren, director of the state Emergency Management Agency, has been "terminated, effective immediately."

A statement late this afternoon from the governor's office said the decision was made jointly by Carcieri and Maj. Gen. Robert Bray, to whom the EMA executive director reports.

The move comes after government officials were taken to task for their response to last Thursday's snowstorm and a short time after a meeting of the Emergency Management Advisory Council to discuss the litany of operational problems after the storm.

Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, who chairs the council, met with Maj. Gen. Robert T. Bray, the state’s adjutant general, and other officials at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Warren, who Bray said was working at his office, did not attend the meeting.

Warren reported to Bray, who is also the commander of the state's National Guard. Bray will assume the duties of EMA executive director until an interim replacement is named, the governor's office said.

Carcieri, who was in the Mideast during the storm and its aftermath, acknowledged yesterday that his administration did a “poor job” of communicating with the public during the storm, which choked most of the state's major arterieis, stranded Providence schoolchildren on buses until late at night, and left some motorists in the nation's smallest state struggling to get home for three to six hours.

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 6:22 PM | Permalink

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Vincenzo | December 18, 2007 6:45 PM link

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