Fire chiefs said this week that a new national report on how the fire service is organised would not mean the closure of the Brentwood fire HQ control room.
A new Home Office report recommends the merging of control rooms across the country, reducing the number from 49 to 21, and then perhaps down to nine super-centres.
At the moment every fire service in the country has its own control room, which deals with incoming emergencies.
The Essex nerve centre is based at the Essex Fire and Rescue Service HQ in Rayleigh Road, Hutton. The fire brigade union has condemned the plan, saying it is a cost-cutting exercise that could put lives in danger, with callers trapped in telephone queuing systems.
But a spokesman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said this week that the report's recommendations would not apply to Essex's Brentwood HQ because it handled so many calls.
The fire brigade union is opposed to any amalgamation of control rooms, saying it could put lives at risk. It is concerned that the report could be the thin end of the wedge.
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