The fire brigade serving Brighton and Hove is in talks with a neighbouring brigade to see how they can work more closely together.
The talks could even lead to a merger of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service with its West Sussex counterpart.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue said: “At this stage no options have been ruled out.”
It said: “Fire and rescue services in East and West Sussex will be developing options to see if a closer collaboration would increase operational resilience and preserve frontline services to the public.
“Both services will now develop a business case that will examine potential options for greater collaboration.
“The business case will examine what potential benefits a collaboration would bring to residents across Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove.
“The focus would be on increasing operational efficiency while making savings in management costs and back office functions.
“The options for closer collaboration will then go before East Sussex Fire Authority and West Sussex County Council for a decision in March 2011.”
Councillor Ted Kemble is the chairman of East Sussex Fire Authority. He served as a fireman for 20 years and represents Wish ward on Brighton and Hove City Council as a Conservative.
He said: “It is right that both services are exploring the potential benefits of closer collaboration with the aim of providing the people of Sussex with an even better and more resilient fire and rescue service.
“Working closer together may also enable significant savings, especially in terms of management costs.
“Both services already work closely together on many issues and have a strong working relationship, particularly in supporting each other at operational incidents.”
Councillor Peter Evans, the cabinet member for public protection at West Sussex County Council, said that this was an important and historic time for both fire services.
He said: “This initiative could drive improvements over and above what has already been achieved under the West Sussex Fire Service Redesign Plan.
“The business case will focus on preserving frontline services and developing service capacity.
“My priorities are the protection of our residents, protecting the fire and rescue service workforce and providing them with the best equipment to do their jobs.”
He added that while no decisions have yet been taken it is entirely appropriate for both services to be looking at this in view of the challenges they are both facing.
Yes. Now the hampshire based operation centre has been dropped for the southeast.Sussex should have (like the police authority and at one point the Ambulance service) one bigger stronger fire authority to cover all of the historic county of Sussex.