Editor's note: This story has been edited from its original version to reflect new information provided to the newspaper Tuesday morning.

Delayed by a suppertime fire, the guys at Roanoke County's Clearbrook station finally took their seats around a table at Outback Steakhouse.

They don't go out for dinner often, but the firemen wanted to do something nice Wednesday night to mark their final dinner together.

Since 2002, six Roanoke firefighters have helped staff the Southwest County station, which also responds to calls in the city.

But starting Wednesday, five of those firefighters will be reassigned to city stations. The sixth has retired.

The staffing change is one of the many transitions that have taken place in the past few years as the departments try to balance budget cuts with an increase in calls while still maintaining response times.

Roanoke County has been struggling to manage the high number of calls in North County. At the same time, fire administrators have shuffled firefighters around to make up for staffing shortages and prepare for the opening of a new fire station.

The Roanoke Fire-EMS Department has closed two aging stations, opened two new ones and lost 12 positions in the past two years.

Roanoke Fire Chief David Hoback said the department decided to eliminate the positions at Clearbrook to make better use of its staff.

Last year, the Clearbrook station ran about 11 calls a week in the city, whereas city stations are fielding as many as 70 calls a week and could use additional manpower.

Residents in Southwest County and the Southern Hills area of the city should notice little change. The departments will continue responding to calls regardless of where the city-county boundary lies. The Roanoke County Fire and Rescue Department has added several firefighters to its rolls and will reassign some of its crew to keep the Clearbrook station fully staffed, Division Chief Steve Simon said.

When the mutual aid agreement took effect in 2002, it was hailed as an unprecedented example of governmental cooperation.

Roanoke benefited from having faster response times in the southern part of the city. The county benefited because it relied on volunteers half of the day and during that time didn't have enough staff to respond to fire and medical calls simultaneously.

Even though the city will no longer be staffing the county station, examples of regionalism still exist.

The city, the county and Salem continue to train their firefighters at the Roanoke Valley Regional Fire-EMS Training Center near Salem.

And Hoback and Roanoke County Fire Chief Rick Burch have been working out an agreement for coverage in the northeast part of the county. It's the county's busiest area, and it's where a new fire station is being built near the intersection of Hershberger and Plantation roads.

When the station opens in September, it will absorb some of the calls from the Hollins station, which often relies on backup from other stations in the county or in Vinton and Roanoke.

The board of supervisors had approved 14 of the 18 positions for the new fire station. But the board recently agreed to fund the remaining four positions and provide money to pay firefighters overtime until the shortage is filled, Burch said.

The department expects to start a fire academy in January and the firefighters should be ready to work by May.

The new station is nearly complete. On a recent morning, workers were painting walls and preparing to lay tile on the floors. It is expected to be complete in August and will house an engine and an ambulance.

Back at the Clearbrook station, the six Roanoke firefighters have been gathering up their gear, cleaning out their lockers and saying goodbye.

"You develop a lot of friendships," said Lt. Rob Roach, a Roanoke firefighter who has been reassigned to Fire Station No. 1. "I'll definitely miss that a whole lot."