Morgan County 911 will begin dispatching all fire and medical calls to the Hartselle Fire Department.

Fire Chief Steve Shelton said the move will help them speed up response time.

“I think it will help save us between one minute and an minute and a half in response time,” Shelton said.

The reason for that is that currently all 911 calls go to the county 911 center. The calls are then transferred to the Hartselle Police dispatch center after 911 takes down the information from the caller.

Shelton said 911 will also offer the fire department the ability for its units to be tracked by GPS. While the fire department will need to purchase new radios, Shelton said they could receive grant money to help offset the costs, but it’s only available through 911.

Police Chief Ron Puckett said the move is a “win-win” situation for the police and fire departments.

“We will continue to receive calls as we do now,” Puckett said. “The only difference is that we will not be dispatching the fire department.