Alachua County Commissioners have approved a tentative budget, and tonight they will vote to finalize it. Firefighters and supporters protested this afternoon in Gainesville because if the tentative budget is approved, Alachua County Firefighters will be facing a cut of $528,000.

The President of the Alachua County Professional Firefighters Brett Sandlin says this would result in fire trucks being taken off the road. "It would mean a longer response time. If your house is on fire or your experiencing a medical emergency, you would wait upwards to 10, 15 or 20 minutes before a paramedic or fire truck would come to you", said Sandlin.

Firefighters from the City of Gainesville, Ocala, Orlando and Marion County joined Alachua County firefighters in protest today.