ZELIENOPLE — Borough officials Monday night discussed criticisms from residents regarding the response to a recent fire.

Residents voiced their criticisms about the Harmony Fire District to Mayor Tom Oliverio for what they said was a slower response time for a fire in March that destroyed two garages on Spruce Street.

“They felt we gave our department away to Harmony,” Oliverio said.

Council member Andrew Mathew said the response time for the fire department was about six minutes.

He said the fire occurred “at the worst time” around 3 p.m.

The fire may have burned unnoticed for a while since many people were at work or school at that time of day.

The fire district, which formed around January, is based on Main Street in Harmony. The district is the result of a merging of the Harmony and Zelienople volunteer fire departments.

The former headquarters for the former Zelienople Volunteer Fire Department, on West Beaver Street, is closer to the site of the Spruce Street fire.

“When you have a merger, it’s always hard,” Mathew said.

The amount of volunteers has not decreased since the merger. The volunteers served in the two former departments.

Oliverio also said residents asked him about the emergency siren that did not go off for the fire.

The siren that blared whenever emergencies happened in the area is currently offline, borough manager Don Pepe said. However, it could go back online for weather emergencies.

Oliverio and other council members said more community relations work may need to be done to better inform residents of how the new fire district functions.

Having another fire truck stationed in the borough also was talked about.

Pepe said the residents who voiced their concerns are “not correct.”

“Out of fairness, I think the criticism comes from individuals who have no real knowledge of what the facts are,” he said. “In this case, it was handled correctly and well.”

However, Pepe also said the fire district could do more community outreach.