A giant pair of scissors made if official Monday -- the new York Area United Fire and Rescue department is up and running.

But nearly two hours before the 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony at the department's 3321 Whiteford Road headquarters, United firefighters had already rushed to their first call.

Deputy Fire Chief Barry Emig said station crews were dispatched to an automatic fire alarm on Concord Road about 8:15 a.m. that turned out to be a false alarm. Emig said "everything went smoothly" during the call.

The new department serves Springettsbury and Spring Garden townships and is a merger of those two townships' departments.

Firefighters from United and departments across York County attended Monday's ceremony, as did officials from both townships and state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York City.

William Schenck, chairman of the department's commission, told the crowd the idea began about five years ago and that the commission "anticipates" other companies around the municipality will eventually want to merge into United as well.

DePasquale said York County already helped lead the way for regionalized police departments in Pennsylvania, and is now leading the way for regionalized fire departments.

"It's a great day not only for York, but for Pennsylvania," he said.

Challenges ahead: Some internal challenges must still be overcome -- including the fact that firefighters are working under two contracts, said United firefighter David Eckman. He is

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president of the Greater York Professional Firefighters union.

Half have one set of health and pension plans; the other half have different ones, he said. Half start their morning shift at 7:30 a.m. while the other half starts at 8 a.m., he said. There are two bargaining units as well.

"We're feeling some of those challenges," Eckman said. "But we're optimistic things will work out in time. (Firefighters) were behind the merger from the very outset."

Eckman said the union's goal is to have one unified contract for all United firefighters.