MANITOWOC RAPIDS, Wis. (WFRV) - On Wednesday night, Manitowoc Rapids supervisors voted to renew their contracts with two volunteer fire departments. The decision came after town officials had considered dumping their contracts with Rockwood Fire Department and Silver Creek Fire Department for the city of Manitowoc. That plan received major pushback from community members who packed a special meeting on Wednesday night. The room erupted into applause when supervisors decided to reverse course and renew their contract with the volunteer fire departments instead of the city of Manitowoc. The contract with the volunteer fire departments is for one year. "It's been very humbling, it's been amazing the people who showed up coming out of the woodworks to help us," said Silver Creek assistant chief Kevin Klosinski.  Representatives from both Rockwood and Silver Creek fire departments had a chance to state their cases and answer questions from supervisors ahead of the vote. The volunteer firefighters said they're best equipped to handle rural fires and said if they lose the contract they would lose funding for their departments since funding is tied to the number of people they serve. Fox River Classic Youth Football teams hold photoshoot, practice with St. Norbert players They also said their trucks can carry more water with them to fires than city trucks which is important because there aren't fire hydrants in rural areas. Manitowoc Fire Chief Todd Blaser said he's confident that his department would have been able to perform the extra duties required of them if they had gotten the contract. He said during the month of August, 91 percent of the time his firefighters were out the door in less than one minute when they received a call. He said this year, they've been on scene in less than five minutes 69 percent of the time. "We obtained the data, we know the number of calls the departments respond to in the area and there was no doubt we were going to be able to meet those benchmarks," he said. Blaser said he's confident his department would have been able to handle the unique challenges of fighting rural fires as well. He said there's been misinformation circulating throughout the community and said it's frustrating because he feels like this helped sway the supervisors' decision. "Just a little bit of frustration with not being data driven information that was being shared," the chief said. Around 200 people showed up for the meeting on Wednesday night. Just about everybody in attendance supported renewing the contract with the volunteer fire departments. After the vote, there was a chance for public comment and about a dozen people spoke. Many speakers thanked the supervisors for their decision, but expressed frustration with the process and what they saw as a lack of transparency. "It shouldn't happen like this, there shouldn't be politics in volunteer firefighting, that's  ridiculous," said Maggie Mies. Rennes Health & Rehab Center holds pinning ceremony, honoring Veterans "I would have liked a vote by the community, where everyone comes together," said Robert Kakuk. "We are a township. I think the way this entire process went I really don't agree with it." Town of Manitowoc Rapids chairperson Josh Stradal recused himself from the vote. He's the fire chief for Branch Fire Rescue, another volunteer fire department that serves the town of Manitowoc Rapids. Branch would have continued to serve Manitowoc Rapids even if the town gave the contract to the city of Manitowoc. Stradal told Local 5 News that he was advised to recuse himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interests. Multiple fire chiefs said during the meeting that this situation had frayed the relationships between Manitowoc County fire departments and expressed a desire to begin mending those relationships. "We need to get the brotherhood back, right now it's broken," said Silver Creek Fire Chief Joe Stanzel. "It's been broken for several years." "We need to get back to the table and talk among the three fire departments to make sure we're doing this for the right cause and that we're doing this for the people," added Klosinski. Supervisors had previously said that the town of Manitowoc Rapids would have saved about $104,000 across five years if they would have contracted with the city of Manitowoc.  A meeting last week on the same topic drew another huge crowd. Some people had to watch from outside because the town hall reached its capacity limit.