The mayor of Semmes spoke with a local television station after two fire stations were closed.
Two fire stations operated by volunteers were locked after the city council decided break the agreement with volunteers while they created a municipal department. They city kept two stations operated by career firefighters open.
Semmes Mayor Judy Hale told television station WALA that it was a "bad move."
"I am also not happy about what happened. It should not have happened," Hale said. "When you're going to do something this major, like start a new fire department or start a new police department, it's not something that you flip a switch and do overnight. And I begged the council on October 18th and I begged them on October 20th, I said let's have a transition plan."
Volunteers said they were unaware of the changes until they arrived at the locked stations, which caused confusion.
Officials said fire equipment used by the volunteers was moved to the career fire stations because the city owned it. Volunteer passed around a petition get their equipment back.
Hale said the city needs to purchase $3 million in equipment before the new department is fully operational.
"A firefighter takes an oath to preserve life and property, and they're gonna do that to the ends of the earth," Seemes resident and former firefighter David Vigor told the television station. "But now you just took away the tools for them to do that, and to do it correctly, so now you've put their lives in jeopardy and you put the citizens' lives in jeopardy."
Hale's term as mayor ends this week.
