Critical minutes were lost in two recent emergency medical calls because nearby Los Angeles Fire Department engines had been taken out of service due to budget cuts, according to fire officials. In both cases, units from farther away responded to the calls.

On Sunday, a woman reportedly stopped breathing in the Harvard Park area of South Los Angeles. Normally, the closest paramedic-staffed engine would have been about a half-mile away. However, that engine had been shut down due to budget cuts and another engine a little under two miles away responded instead, according to fire officials.

On Friday, a woman suffered an apparent stroke at the Chatsworth Metrolink station. One of the fire trucks usually on duty at the nearest station had been shuttered, while the two other units at that firehouse were on another call, officials said.

It took the next-closest fire engine seven minutes to arrive from Reseda, officials said. The closest available paramedic ambulance arrived in 11 minutes -- about twice the citywide average response time for ambulances, according to the Fire Department.

Fire officials said they did not know what happened to the two patients, but they acknowledged the budget cuts have cost valuable minutes in some emergencies.

"That's part of the sacrifice in order to meet the monetary budget," said Capt. Steve Ruda, a department spokesman. "Time counts. The faster we can get to people in need, the more effective we can become."

Since August, the department has decommissioned 15 fire engines and nine ambulances daily at various stations to help close a $56.5-million budget shortfall. Departments across the city have been forced to slash their budgets in the face of a growing deficit.