ALAMEDA, Calif. -- A house fire in Alameda that left two firefighters injured over the weekend has sparked a renewed debate about that city's decision to reduce fire service due to budgetary constraints.

When the fire call came in on Sunday, six firefighters were in ambulances responding to medical calls. And another fire truck was responding to a different fire.

Firefighters knew they wouldn't get any help from Station Five, as that station was closed in January.

The fire did plenty of damage to a home on Inverness Way and rattled plenty of neighbors.

Stephen Geller said he was worried the fire would spread to his house.

"When I walked out the door we were able to see flames shooting up over the roof of our house here. They must have been 30 feet high," he said.

A truck from Station Two arrived first, responding within a few minutes of receiving the call around 6:30 in the evening.

But firefighter Sam Yussim said it took much longer for additional resources to arrive.

"Another engine arriving sooner would have allowed the firefighters on scene to make an initial attack sooner than they were able to, which would have reduced the spread of the fire and exponential growth," Yussim explained.

And he said that would have prevented two fire captains from being injured.

A 20+ year veteran of the department suffered second degree burns to his back and abdomen, while a 15-year veteran suffered burns to his hands.

Yussim and union officials said the injuries were a direct result of recent cuts.

"When we have fewer resources available, they're spread thinner and we can't get to fires or EMS calls as fast," Yussim said.

Alameda, like many cities in the Bay Area, has had to learn to do more with less, recently reducing the number of firefighters staffed each day from 27 to 24.

Fire Chief David Kapler said anytime you add or reduce resources, "you're changing the level of service."

But Kapler insists the changes have had little impact, with no significant increases in response time to fires in the city, including Sunday's fire.

"The response was normal, we got the people there," said Kapler. "We got the equipment there and you can't say that brown-outs made the fire bigger, it didn't. i got there in the same time we would normally get there."

However, critics point to another fire as proof the cuts are making it difficult to keep up with the load.

Back in March, a huge fire erupted at the former army medical depot, and firefighters say -- like Sunday -- they were ill-equipped to put up a good fight.

"These cuts are impacting every one across the board," said firefighter Yussim.