Village officials say public safety could be at risk if relations between the Rochester and Waterford fire departments are not improved.
At a specially called meeting Monday at Rochester Village Hall, the Rochester and Waterford fire chiefs said they will consider breaking an automatic response mutual aid agreement due to problems between the organizations.
Waterford Fire Chief Rick Mueller said the Rochester Volunteer Fire Company, a private organization, has not embraced modern incident command practices, which he said has resulted in communication issues and confusion at fire scenes.
He said he has asked Rochester to work with his department on training, but those requests have gone unanswered.
Rochester fire officials, meanwhile, criticized a perceived lack of experience in the Waterford department, which is a municipally run organization, and said some of their volunteer firefighters have been reluctant to respond to Waterford calls because they feel their safety is in jeopardy.
The meeting Monday included village presidents and trustees from both village boards, many of whom implored the chiefs to set a meeting soon and open lines of communication.