Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder is vowing there will be no layoffs in the fire department, despite the $1.4 million reduction in its budget.

Fire Chief Brandon Blough and the firefighters’ union both contend that layoffs may be unavoidable because there’s no other way to cut that much out of the budget. But Langfelder says any move to cut positions would have to go through him, and he says he won’t allow it.

But it’s still unclear how the department could absorb cuts of that size otherwise.