Prince George's County residents are raising concerns that the sidelining of first responders as part of a two-week furlough plan could compromise the public's safety.

Prince George's County police and other public safety employees have filed a lawsuit, asking that the forced furloughs be declared unconstitutional. Now the case has been moved to the federal courts.

"I don't think they should be furloughed, because too many things happen," said one resident. Another argued, "We need our firepeople to be there when we need them. It's not an eight- or nine-hour job, or a ten-hour job, or a twelve-hour job -- it's a 24 hour job." 

County leaders are putting a two-week furlough plan into action which will affect 720 first responders, including 44 county fire stations.

Fire department employees who have seen the proposed furlough plan tell ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 that all county fire stations would be affected. Each station would be fully staffed during peak hours between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. But during off-hours, entire firefighter units could be taken out of service at selected stations.

Under the plan, according to sources, understaffed stations could be staffed with volunteer firefighters or nearby stations that are fully staffed could help out with fire calls.

A spokesperson for county executive Jack Johnson said that once a final plan is accepted, there will be no negative impact on services to the residents of Prince George's County. Response times to emergencies will not be affected and no fire stations will be closed. 

The Fraternal Order of Police, however, says that in terms of manpower, this will equate to taking 100 police officers per year off the streets.

County executive Jack Johnson and the council agreed that every county employee has to be furloughed 80 hours between now and June to help close a $57 million deficit.