Two fire engines were taken out of service Wednesday, the first day of what city officials are calling the “new reality” for the Hamilton Fire Department.

City Manager Joshua Smith the city will be cutting back the number of available fire apparatus each day as part of reductions to the fire department’s 2013 budget, which were approved Dec. 26 by City Council. Engine 22, located at Station 22 on Pershing Avenue, and Quint 27, a dual engine and ladder truck located at the Shuler Avenue station, were taken out of service Wednesday to avoid paying overtime after 10 firefighters were off work due to vacation or sick leave, Smith said.

“We will shift manpower around where it makes the most sense,” he said. “At least through the first five months until Station 27 is closed.”

Fire Chief Steve Dawson said the rolling brownouts of certain engines or fire apparatus will be based on staffing levels each day. Dawson said each 24-hour shift typically includes 28 employees, but each shift has a varying number of vacancies based on sick leave or vacation time.

“The majority of overtime was cut out of the budget and can’t be used to cover a vacancy,” Dawson said.

Reductions to the fire department in the 2013 budget include the closure of two fire units and possible layoffs of up to 18 positions. This will reduce the number of contractual firefighters from 110 to 87.

The layoffs won’t begin until May, after a series of public safety grants are set to expire, Smith said.

Station 27 — located at 1224 Shuler Ave. — is slated for a seven-month brownout from May 5 until Jan. 1, 2014, according to Smith. The station will reopen in 2014 as a medic-only unit.

“We’re trying to redefine service based on current realities,” Smith said. “I’ve fully empowered the fire chief and deputy chiefs to move apparatus and personnel where they deem the most important.”

The Hamilton Fire Department responded to 12,201 incidents in 2012, according to officials. Smith said of those incidents, about 83 percent were for emergency medical reasons.

Dawson said the minimum level of service will be five fire units — such as an engine, tower or quint — and three medic units operating each day. The city also has two reserve engines, and the number will increase as Station 27 closes and those fire apparatus go into reserve status.

“There will be some impact and consequences from this,” Dawson said. “I’m anxious about those consequences.”

Linda Martin of Hamilton, who lives on Shuler Avenue, said the brownout of Station 27 has been a concern for the neighborhood. Martin said having adequate fire protection is as crucial to a city as electricity.

“It’s a big issue; there’s a lot of older residents in the neighborhood worried they wouldn’t get to the hospital soon enough,” Martin said. “That fire house has been there for years and people rely on it. If it wasn’t for them (firefighters) being so close, we’d probably end up losing more people.”

Smith said the closure of Station 27 is based on an efficiency study, and subsequent recommendations, from Berkshire Advisors Inc. He said the consultants analyzed every call within a 12-month span.

As a fire or EMS call is received by emergency dispatchers, each street has a “running card” that lists in order which fire stations and units should respond first, Dawson said. Calls for service will be distributed among available personnel and apparatus, he said.

“It will vary day to day until we arrive at a more permanent structure,” Dawson said. “We’re very closely monitoring what will happen this year and in the next several weeks.”