House burnt down as firemen watch?

[feralmerril]

Seems someone didnt pay their fire fighting subscription and the house burnt down with the dept watching! Anyway thats how I understand it!
Hows that square with the spirit of helping out people that are being mugged, raped, robbed etc? We go and fight on the other side of the world and spend our lives, billions etc and the fire dept says, well you didnt pay, so its not our job! I guess they just pulled up to stand by so it didnt spread to paying customers. Yup, they have the american spirit alright! What say you?

 

[USAF385]

Truly America's finest in that department.

 

[venomballistics]

if it is as you understand it ... the department needs some in house live practice till sensitivity training is accomplished.

it can also me a skewed story as well. it certainly has that potential.

 

[Andy Griffith]

Huh?

I don't understand this thread, or maybe I missed something..

Who? What? Where? Or is this hypothetical?

 

[USAF385]

A quote from the mayor: "if homeowners don't pay, they're out of luck."

I guess the house was outside of the city limits. Anyone outside of the city limits have the option of paying for the "service". They only responded when the field of a neighbor.. who paid the fee.. caught on fire.

 

[dkizer22]

Yes, It happened near South Fulton, TN. You need the full story to understand.

 

[gunlovingirl]

Would have been the best $75 he ever spent!
For those who are curious about the thread, google South Fulton TN fire.

 

[mg357]

what a sad and awful mess of a situation

 

[cass]

As I recall, this has happened before, at a different place. It's disgraceful. The only time where I'd find that action acceptable is if/when the ground zero mosque fires up - then it's time for a show.

 

[USAF385]

I'm just glad there's a great volunteer company in my area.

 

[ladder13]

I wouldn't be so quick to blame the FD, it is City management who created the policy. Just as in the military, FF's are told to obey orders, otherwise anarchy ensues.
Not saying it was right, just focus blame where it belongs.

 

[jimmyj]

This is not an unusual occurance. Its like trying to purchase auto insurance right after the accident that damaged your car.
eros ago houses that had subscripted for the fire protection had a "Fire Mark" (metal fire cross) attached to the front of the house so the volunteers would know that the house was a subscriped member.
How would you react if the fire truck was tied up extinguishing a house that was not a protected house and your house caught on fire and you was a paid subscripted member?

 

[bitstream]

It seems pretty easy to me. First, put out the fire. Second, check if they are paid on their subscription. If not, then just bill them the full, itemized cost of the trip (fuel, wages, water, etc. etc.). Everyone is happy.

 

[redlevel]

I remember a similar story, probably at least 35, 40 years ago, way back before algore ever invented the interwebs, where a fire department actually wet down the houses of subscribers on either side of a non-subscriber's home while it burned to the ground.

What if you quit paying insurance, or just chose not to buy it in the first place? Should Allstatefarm pay off anyhow, just because it is the thing to do? If it was a subscription service, and the homeowners knew that and still chose not to buy it, then I don't see where they have any gripe. After all, most of us are complaining about having to bear the burden of paying for the health care of those who either can't afford insurance or choose not to buy it.

 

[haggis]

My wife's two brothers and one of her uncles were firefighters in Metro Nashville. They risked their lives every time they went into a burning building, just like every firefighter does. What I think is disgraceful is when some cheap SOB won't pay taxes for fire protection, or won't support a volunteer fire department, or won't pay a reasonable subscription fee for fire protection, and then complains when someone won't risk their lives to bail his miserly butt out. $75 a year is a small fee for fire protection. He made his choice, and he gets to live with it.


Buck

 

[JcMack]

There's no mention of whether the home owner was a habitual non payer. If he just fell behind I doubt there'd be an issue. There's a township (nice place ) of 4000 about 30 miles southeast of me that has no police force. The County Sheriff has had deputies paroling their town for years. Now the sheriff wants $100,000 to continue service to the community or they have to supply their own police dept.. This is not a new problem there. The town council met last Tues and voted to tell the Sheriff to screw himself, but we still want free policing. So for roughly $25 a head they have chosen to not pay. They have the money. Instead they whine to the media, about lack of sensitivity on the Sheriffs part.

 

[RufusG]

I have the opposite problem. When we built our new house Rural Metro (provider of fire services in unincorporated areas of the county) wanted over $800 a year to provide coverage. I declined their offer.

But supposedly, if your house lights up, and they come put it out, they will charge you the actual cost, which will be far in excess of the $800 I presume. I haven't figured out how they can do that if I don't ask them to put it out, but that's what I hear.

I have insurance. If the house burns, I'll just build another. There's no guarantee the FD will save it anyway.

 

[pluspea]

It seems pretty easy to me. First, put out the fire. Second, check if they are paid on their subscription. If not, then just bill them the full, itemized cost of the trip (fuel, wages, water, etc. etc.). Everyone is happy.

The Fire chief in Knoxville was on the news last night. He stated that in K-town this would not happen, they would try to extinguish the fire, then bill for the trucks and the fireman. He stated that the cost of one truck would be about 1200.00.

 

[CQB27]

Most things in life worth having are not free, including fire protection from the fire department.

The right thing to do is contribute to society, IE pay a fee like everybody else for public services. If you want to live in a society where you have a "To each his own according to his need", well China, North Korea and Cuba are a few places that come to mind.

I forgot to add America, if continue to elect those that currently dominate Washington.

 

[ladder13]

The Fire chief in Knoxville was on the news last night. He stated that in K-town this would not happen, they would try to extinguish the fire, then bill for the trucks and the fireman. He stated that the cost of one truck would be about 1200.00.

The problem with that is, if the homeowner couldn't pay $75 how's he going to pay $5000? Knoxville will send 4 rigs minimum to a house fire, maybe more depending on their manpower and response protocol.
In NYC, you get 8 rigs(40 men) minimum, probably double that. That's just for a single family house nevermind an apartment building where you'll get 200 men.