The Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the Welsh principal areas of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Swansea. The service was created in 1996 by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 which reformed Welsh local government. It was created by a merger of the earlier Dyfed, Powys and West Glamorgan fire brigades. The service is the largest by area in England and Wales, covering a predominantly rural area of 4500 sqmi and the third largest in the United Kingdom behind the Scottish and Northern Ireland fire services. It has 57 fire stations, and around 1,400 staff. Since October 2017, the service has shared its control room with South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and South Wales Police at the police headquarters, an arrangement that is expected to save £1million annually across both fire and rescue services. The fire authority which administers the service is a joint-board, made up of councillors appointed from Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Swansea councils.