With Oakland facing at least a $29.5 million shortfall in its $387 million general fund budget for the coming fiscal year, Mayor Jerry Brown and City Manager Robert Bobb have proposed saving $2.2 million by shuttering the fire station in Jack London Square and the fireboat Sea Wolf and reassigning 16 firefighters.

The council is expected to approve the budget by mid-June. The fireboat was purchased in 1994 with $1.3 million from a voter-approved emergency preparedness bond to be the city's primary water source in the event that water mains are ruptured in a major earthquake. The boat can pump water from the Oakland Estuary through a portable water supply system at a much faster rate than a fire engine.

"I think you're asking to burn down half the city in a major earthquake," said Councilwoman Jean Quan.

The fire station also is the city's only one on the west side of the train tracks along Jack London Square, where more than 100 trains a day block access.

Councilwoman Nancy Nadel said she accompanied firefighters from a nearby station this week, and it took nine minutes to reach the Jack London area.

"If there's a train there, it could be 10 minutes more. That's life or death," she said.

But several council members echoed the city administration's position that the Port of Oakland should pay for the fire station and the boat because they largely protect port property.

Port officials have refused to pay the more than $3 million a year the city is seeking, saying they built the fire station and lease it at no cost to the city and already pay $1.2 million for police, fire and other services. Port tenants also pay taxes to the city for such services.

The port also pays $25,000 for fireboat maintenance, but fire officials contend the costs are closer to $200,000.

"Fire Station 2 and the fireboat should be paid for by the port," said Councilwoman Jane Brunner, who called on the mayor to pressure the port to end a three-year stalemate.

But port spokesman Harold Jones said this week that "the port is very adamant about its position."

Ricky Lacina, who owns a condominium on the water side of the tracks, asked council members whether they would be comfortable risking fire and medical services for their own families and property.

"It's the sole source of emergency services on the west side of the tracks, " said Lacina, who said she frequently gets stuck waiting for long freight trains to pass.

Mayor Jerry Brown said he does not think closing the station would risk public safety.

"These claims are overblown," said Brown. "If the port doesn't want it, why should we pay for it?"

But firefighters, who packed the council chambers, said those and other proposed cuts pose a danger. The department already is shutting down two engines at a time, rotating the closures among the city's stations.