Derbyshire has become the new home of Nottinghamshire's fire service control room after the two authorities agreed on a joint control project.
The new control room went live on July 1 and is now based in Ascot Drive community fire station over the border in Derbyshire.
The fire service also emphasised how no compulsory redundancies had been made as a result of the merger, but staff members have had to transfer to Derby and will have to commute if they are still living in Nottinghamshire.
The level of service provided by the joint control room will not be affected due to the fact all three services, including Leicestershire Fire and Rescue, can cross borders and call on the nearest fire engine available.
John Buckley, Nottinghamshire’s chief fire officer, said: "In April, when we launched our new strategic plan, we outlined ten projects for year one, supporting our vision for creating safer communities across Nottinghamshire. This is the first to be delivered from that plan.
"Introducing tri-service control back in 2015 was about ensuring we continued to effectively function cross-borders, so that the nearest asset was mobilised to an incident, no matter where in the three counties that appliance happened to be.
"This remains at the core of what we do, keeping our communities safe. Creating a joint control room at Ascot Drive means a change of location but the function remains the same.
"Full credit must go to our fantastic staff in our control rooms who have fully engaged in this process."
The new venture will save around £350,000 each year, after Nottinghamshire fire service was forecasting a deficit of £798,000 in 2020 and Derbyshire a deficit of £1.35 million.
In the event of a system failure in the Derbyshire-based control room, Leicestershire would deal with the calls until the issue is sorted.
Derbyshire’s chief fire officer and chief executive, Terry McDermott, added: "The newly formed joint Control Room provides an efficient and effective emergency call handling service for the communities of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the very communities whose safety is at the forefront of our decision making.
“Bringing the two control rooms together will not affect the way 999 calls are handled, or the level of service people will receive when needing the fire and rescue service in an emergency.
“Through proactive prevention campaigning, over the past ten years nationally the fire and rescue service has successfully reduced the number of emergency incidents it attends.
"This has resulted in a reduction in the number of 999 emergency calls received and has therefore provided an opportunity for us to review the delivery of our call handling provision, to ensure it is as effective and efficient as it can be in line with the demand for service from our communities."
Back in February, Nottinghamshire's fire and police services also signed off plans for a joint £18.5 million head quarters.
