Local firefighters visited the Capitol Thursday to make sure Austin doesn’t get burned when it comes to budget cuts.

Chris Grunewald, Austin Professional Firefighters Local 598 president, said he and two other Austin firefighters — Tim Olson and Tom Schulte — expressed their concerns regarding Local Government Aid and how a major slash to it could negatively affect the Austin Fire Department.

Grunewald said he met with Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, and Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, who both expressed support for public safety and keeping funding flowing to the AFD.

“They both sounded like they supported public safety as being one of the concerns if LGA is cut,” Grunewald said. “Public safety is the last thing they want to see cut.”

Several bills are currently making their way through the Legislature, with supporters hoping their passage could mean increased revenue for the state. Grunewald said the AFD is, in general, in support of increasing state revenue by allowing liquor sales on Sundays and expanding gambling at Canterbury Park.

“We’re fans of increases in taxes to keep services, as opposed to cutting services,” he said.

Although the Austin men weren’t in full emergency gear, another group of firefighters were dressed to the nines for their testimony before the House Public Safety Committee on the state’s Fire Safety Account. It was created in 2006 to fund the fire service through a surcharge on property insurance premiums, but fire protection organizations say it’s now being improperly used primarily as a tool by lawmakers to fill budget holes in the state budget.