She and two other volunteers, Helen Solinski and Ellen Santomauro, spent two days gathering signatures, dividing their time among the Willow Glen Farmers Market, Starbucks and Safeway. On May 23 Espinoza mailed the petition to the city.

"I'm hoping for the best," said Espinoza, who has lived in Willow Glen for 18 years.

To bridge a $58 million deficit, the city's proposed budget, released May 2, is looking at $4.8 million in cuts to public safety, including the elimination of a hose wagon at Fire Station No. 6 and the relocation of other fire-fighting apparatus for more efficiency.

For Espinoza, losing fire services is a real concern. Her son, Marcus, has a congenital heart problem that has prompted "many calls to 911" in the past years. She is worried that losing the hose wagon and firefighters will increase the fire services' response time.

"Time is of essence to Marcus," she said. "A minute can be the difference between life and death for him."

She also pointed out that the hose wagon is a critical tool when fighting fires located in areas with narrow driveways.

"If you ever had a house fire, you'll know it only takes minutes for an entire house to burn down," Espinoza said.

The proposed elimination of the hose wagon at Station No. 6 would not compromise emergency service delivery within the Willow Glen community, San Jose Fire Chief Jeff Clet said.

"Its elimination will reduce the number of personnel assigned to Fire Station No. 6, making it consistent with staffing levels found at all other fire stations citywide," he said.

The "rigorous analysis" the department conducted also found that surrounding fire engines responded within 8 minutes to 76 percent of 911 calls received when the fire engine at Station 6 was unavailable.

Clet acknowledges that the proposed removal of the hose wagon is unpopular in Willow Glen, but said, "It is important to know that the city had six hose wagons in the past and all other hose wagons have been eliminated over the years through past budget action or relocation of those personnel to other stations."

District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager is committed to doing "everything he can" to save the hose wagon and personnel at Fire Station No. 6. On May 19, he sent a memorandum to the mayor asking to retain the station's current staffing and equipment.

"I've made my case to the mayor directly," Yeager said.

He added that if funding for the hose wagon is not included in the mayor's revised budget, he will "get the support of other council members."

This is not the first time the hose wagon and fire personnel at the fire station have been on the chopping block. Last year, funds to keep the hose wagon came from reassigning the Hazardous Incident Team staff, as cross-trained personnel, to fire stations throughout the city.

The budget is expected to come before the city council on June 14.