MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Short staffing at one fire department has led Shelby County Fire to close one of its stations.

The Millington Fire Department doesn’t have enough manpower so Shelby County Fire stepped in to help out but that’s forcing its fire station on Egypt Central to stop answering calls.

The plan is to stop running services completely in October.

“We’re unwanted step children out here and they need to step up and take care of us,” said Kathy Blakely.

She was just one of a handful of people upset Shelby County decided to close the Fire Station on Egypt Central Road.

Blakely said she knows the significance of a closed fire station.

The same station was closed in 1999 when her house caught fire.

“It took them 30 minutes to get here–now Bartlett showed up too but still 30 minutes,” she said.  “We lost almost everything. ”

The plan is to have the resources at Egypt Central shift to a station on Navy Road just outside Millington.

Shelby County Fire Chief Alvin Benson said the Egypt Central location won’t be totally moth balled.

“We’re going to still have a fire presence here. We’re gonna have training personnel, fire marshal’s office will be here and perhaps one of those ambulances will ultimately be here,” he explained.

However people who lived in the affected neighborhood said that wasn’t enough.

They paid the monthly fees for fire services but Benson said they’re really paid for service from the nine county stations.

“The fee actually covers not just one fire station, it actually covers the fire system,” she said.

Now coverage will come from the Raleigh-Millington Station, a separate location altogether.

The Chief explained there’s also an automatic aid agreement with the Memphis Fire Department but Liz Carrozza said for the 4,000-5,000 people living there, that wasn’t enough.

“We have very narrow roads, very curvy roads. These are country roads so if a fire truck is coming through here from Raleigh-Millington it’s going to take them quite awhile to get here,” said Carrozza.

“If I call 911 should I be worried?” WREG’s Shay Arthur asked the Chief.

“No. No. You shouldn’t worry,” was Benson’s response.

However Carrozza didn’t buy it.

“We’ll fight for it. If they close it October 1,” she said. “We’re going to continue to fight for it.”

Another concern for people living in the area was the possibility of their fire insurance increasing.

However Chief Benson said that won’t happen because they would also be covered by the City of Memphis.