(ABC 6 News) — Oronoco First Responders announced it would no longer be serving the community of Oronoco Township after the Oronoco Township Board voted on the decision at their April 14 meeting.

The news shocked members of the Oronoco Township community and the Oronoco Fire Department (OFD).

JP Abenstein lives in Oronoco Township and said he and his wife are both over the age of 65 so the thought of having a medical emergency is concerning given that he doesn’t know how long it would take for emergency services to get to his home.

“The first thing that crossed my mind is ‘well if one of us have a medical problem and we call 911, who’s going to come and how long will that take?'” Abenstein said.

Pine Island Fire Department (PIFD) will take over medical calls to Oronoco Township starting July 1, but Johann Sonnenberg, the fire training officer at the OFD, is concerned about the department’s response time given how far it is to Oronoco Township.

“Unfortunately with a department that is so far away, response times are going to increase,” Sonnenberg said. “Our patients, our citizens, our neighbors aren’t going to get care in the time that they need.”

Data collected from OFD stated that from 2019 to 2023, Pine Island First Responders took more time to arrive on scene compared to OFD.

As far as why the decision was made, Sonnenberg said he and his supervisor were left out of the decision making process, but believe it had to do with finances.

“We were told no. So we had no insight into what was going on, what negotiations were going on in good faith or otherwise and all of a sudden we hear that we lost the township,” Sonnenberg said.

ABC 6 reached out to members of the Oronoco Township Board asking what went into the decision, and if there was any concern regarding first responder response time, but has yet to hear back.

Oronoco First Responders and OFD will continue to serve the city of Oronoco and will be available for mutual aid upon request.