During a trustees budget meeting for fire and police in the village of Fredonia on April 16, information was presented to the village board that does not reflect an accurate picture of the response time of the Brocton Fire Department and its Emergency Squad.

In reviewing our response time over the past 12-month period, our average on-scene time from alarm time has been less than eight minutes and these averages include mutual aid calls in the surrounding communities. Further, in the three recent mutual aid calls in the town of Pomfret, our on-scene response time averaged less than nine minutes. These numbers are a far cry from the 15- to 20-minute times that were presented as the time it takes Brocton to leave their hall during the videotaped meeting as viewed on YouTube.

Myself, as chief, and my membership take great pride in the services we provide our community as well as the neighboring communities. We also take great pride in the safe and speedy response to those in need. This letter has been written to inform the Fredonia Village Board and its residents that the Brocton Fire Department as part of the Chautauqua County mutual aid plan will continue to respond to assist the Fredonia Fire Department. We will do so as quickly and safely as we have done in the past, and with the same professionalism.

Phil Gerace is chief of the Brocton Fire Department.