Summerdale Mayor David Wilson said he felt the town was moving in “positive direction” by revamping the volunteer fire department.
It was announced at the Summerdale Town Council meeting on Monday, June 10 that both the fire chief and assistant fire chief had been removed from their respective positions.
“Morale was way down in the department,” Wilson said. “Our numbers were way down and people just weren’t joining the department. The recruiting techniques being employed simply were not working.”
As a result, Wilson said, emergency calls within the department’s jurisdiction were going unanswered.
“We had a situation recently where there were three calls that nobody responded to,” he said. “The council met and decided the way to move forward would be to simply start over with the department.”