When it comes to fire department response, the importance and advantage of a well-staffed response can't be stressed enough. One firefighter on a truck can't do much to mitigate any emergency without more firefighters on the scene.

Waterford has decided to take its paid firefighters and reassign their schedule and station assignments to improve fire and EMS responses. This is the first step in the right direction.

Waterford needs to create the Waterford Fire Department - one department, one goal, one leader, one mission, one budget. It needs to add more paid personnel and start one true combination department whose mission is simple: do its best to provide protection for its citizens. Pretty firehouses, polished trucks, and half-hearted promises don't do any good when civilians are in trouble. Firefighters do; and the quicker they arrive on scene - and with strength in numbers - the more favorable the outcome will be.

Waterford would not reinvent the wheel by doing this, but rather step into the 21st century. Similar initiatives have already been done throughout the country, and proved very successful. It's time to stop with six different directions.