Toronto Fire Chief Bill Stewart said years of hiring freezes have meant he can't put enough trucks on the road and that he has 100 fewer firefighters than needed. Tony Smyth/CBC

Toronto Fire Chief Bill Stewart has told the city's budget committee that he needs more firefighters and that a reduced budget would put public safety at risk.

But budget chief Mike Del Grande questioned many of the chief's claims during the committee meeting on Tuesday. The city wants a three per cent cut in 2012.

Stewart said years of hiring freezes have meant he can't put enough trucks on the road, and he has 100 fewer firefighters than needed. The budget calls for the hiring of 68 firefighters to be deferred.

"It will increase response time, there is no question. It will then place, obviously, firefighters and the public at risk," he said.

The budget meeting came a few days after it was revealed that a consultant's report from 2009 showed Toronto's fire response is about two minutes slower than the North American standard.

Stewart says increased response times could lead to steep increases in home insurance — eight to 15 per cent, he said.

Del Grande doubted that number, and asked how often firefighters respond to emergency calls that are not fires (about 30 per cent).

Del Grande has talked about merging Emergency Medical Services and fire into one department, as some other cities have done. EMS has been cool to the idea.

Del Grande also said a quarter of a firefighter's shift is spent sleeping.

"I would challenge any other type of employee where they would get paid to sleep," he said.