Mayor Jake Day reassured Salisbury residents that the departure of the volunteer fire company 1 will not affect the response time by the department.
He said, “It’s not a crisis” and added that the city will be stronger for it.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that the mayor also said that neither the city nor Wicomico County leaders were interested in another fire station.
The decision by the volunteer firefighter Company 1 to quit the Salisbury Fire Department has resulted in 10 leaving Station 1 while another 7 decided to take the option of being transferred to another volunteer company.
The city said it is still waiting to see if 12 others will accept the option to transfer to another company.
Company 1 issued statement after its decision saying that it was leaving because the city refused to participate in mediation.
During a news conference the mayor said that members of Company 1 did not want to answer to paid staff of the fire department and wanted to operate without reporting to anyone.
But the Salisbury Daily Times reports that under the city charter that would be illegal.
Meanwhile the volunteer fire company says it plans to move to a location outside the city and serve the surrounding area.
It also hopes to sign a mutual service agreement with the city.
