The Wanganui Fire Service has begun the shift back to its refurbished headquarters.
About $1.5 million has been spent renovating the Wanganui Fire Station while the service was temporarily run out of the former Molten Metals building in Gilberd St, Castlecliff.
The move began yesterday with IT gear the first to head back to the cental city site, acting assistant area manager Craig Gardiner said. The move was expected to take three days.
For the remainder of the year there will be a skeleton administration staff but there would be no compromise to firefighting capability, Mr Gardiner said.
"We'll be fully available at all times and we'll still be doing [installing] smoke alarms. We prioritise those."
It would take a few months to settle in and building work would continue until early next year.
"We're actually going to have some work going on around us."
An official opening and public open days are pencilled in for February 14 and 15.
Mr Gardiner said the eight months in the makeshift station just off Heads Rd had gone smoothly.
"It's been brilliant and staff have adapted very well to temporary surroundings. The public have learned where we are."
While based in Castlecliff, where 25 per cent of callouts come from, the service parked trucks at strategic points around the city to respond quickly to the central and eastern suburbs.