Almost 24 hours after enforcing a hiring freeze around the city, Staunton firefighters are speaking out.

The city council says the freeze is an effort to save money in a failing economy, but firefighters fear it would put the city in danger.

On top of the hiring freeze, a proposal before the council would prevent five police and two fire vacancies from being filled. However, the Staunton Fire Department has seen a 200-percent increase in the number of calls since 2007, but the number of firefighters has remained the same.

Firefighter Perry Weller, president of the Staunton Professional Firefighters Union, says it's hard enough dealing with that fact.

"Public safety should not be included in the cuts that they're proposing to make," says Weller. "Public safety should be left alone. We can't jeopardize citizens' safety and firefighters or police officer safety."

Since the Staunton Fire Department is below national staffing standards, Weller says the two vacant positions need to be filled. If the proposal goes through, he says it will be impossible to meet the commitment of promptly serving the city.

"We just ask that they look a little harder, look at various programs to cut, and like I said before, leave public safety out of the cuts," says Weller.

City Councilwoman Andrea Oakes says, "We have been able to keep the city safe, and when it comes to fires, normally it's more than just one fire department that will respond. We do have Augusta County Fire Department right here in Staunton."

Oakes says the city is trying to avoid laying people off. She says the city council will decide whether they can find relief somewhere besides public safety.

"But folks have to remember, we are working on a shoe string budget and a lot of it comes from the state mandates that have not been funded," says Oakes.

If the number of emergency calls continues to rise, Weller says it's only a matter of time before a citizen or firefighter is hurt or killed. Not only that, but it would also take longer to respond to these fires.

Oakes says the city manager will meet with the fire chief to learn more about the concerns of the fire department.