Fire Chief watches house burn over $75 tax

[GreenScoutII]

In general I'm in favor of smaller government and greater personal freedom and responsibility, but any idea can be carried to an illogical extreme.

For a fire department to not make an attempt to extinguish a fire sounds pretty illogical to me. Especially over 75 bucks.

Not everything should be profit driven. Some things, such as fire protection, should be a public service.

If nothing else, they could have put out the fire then billed him for actual costs of putting it out.

[Troublco]

I bet if they'd turned a hose on it, he would have happily given them the $75 and been a good spokeperson for the area on why others should do the same. Considering the services a lot of folks who don't pay taxes receive, this seems a bit extreme. Do the people in this country who don't pay taxes get denied services when a natural disaster strikes their area? (Katrina comes to mind.) No. If we're going to start picking and choosing who gets services based on paying taxes, then we might as well pull cops out of a lot of bad inner city areas and let those people fend for themselves. FEMA can save a lot of money not helping people who don't pay taxes. CCW holders are supposed to help others if they witness someone else who needs assistance (protection wise), but they don't get paid for it. (Yes, I know, they're not govt) The Fire Department, volunteer or otherwise, should respond to a fire. I seriously doubt this guy would have been fired for helping out; I bet now there's a lawsuit no matter whether he paid or not. Of course, I suppose it's possible that the Fire Department has no requirement to put out a fire; just like there is no constitutional right to police protection.

[Byte Stryke]

Good thing nobody came running out of the trailer on fire- they probably would have to turn around for that.

Imminent danger to life.
By Law ANYONE must make an attempt at that point. This is where you folks are missing the point

Not everything should be profit driven. Some things, such as fire protection, should be a public service.

If nothing else, they could have put out the fire then billed him for actual costs of putting it out.

The whole point of this is that there is no profit, its a rural VFD controlled by the government and funded by YOU, the homeowner. It is NOT a TAX... its a FEE, you can OPT IN or OPT OUT by not paying the FEE. AGAIN not a Government TAX.
So lets say you DON'T pay the FEE and call the VFD and they come out and save it anyways.

"Did you hear about the fire at the Johnson's? they didn't pay and the fire department came out and put their fire out. I Don't know why we pay if they don't have to."

Now more people aren't paying.
And as stated before, a lien means shit. To this day I still have an outstanding lien on a house I worked on in 1994 to the tune of just over $7K.(Tile Remodel)
That and $10 will get me some McDonald's.

[Byte Stryke]

Lets imagine that a new county sprang up in the Middle of nowhere.

Now we all live in this new county and we have an election and we say NO TAXES!
EVAR!

great, But now what about emergency services?
we have no police,No Fire and no Ambulance services because we cant pay them!
Its OK, we will handle it!

Well you know, I work late at night and I Don't like my wife and son home alone. But I hear oneguy67 is a certified law enforcement official. Him and I work out a deal where if my wife sees a prowler or whatnot she can call him and he will come to investigate matters.
But his time and energies aren't free.
We agree that I have to pay him 50 "clams" a year for this service.

Now if my Neighbor, "TheInternet", who DOESNT pay calls Oneguy67 and says someone stole his polishing compound and Oneguy67 goes rushing out there and investigates it. Hows that make me feel?


I want my friggin money back.
You gave them the services for free you can give it to everyone for free!
Can't afford it? you could afford to give it to them on MY Dime. Its not like it was life or Death!





BTW, my old station-house is having a fundraiser
Support your and other VFDs or FPDs

Who here can tell me why its a .com and not a .gov?

[sniper7]

Imminent danger to life.
By Law ANYONE must make an attempt at that point. This is where you folks are missing the point.

Do the animals inside count?

If not them why do fds that I pay for save a dogs life in the middle of a lake or a kitten in a tree. I am being a bit fececious here of course.

I agree with what you have said I know he should have paid the fees and I understand the consequences of the fire department losing money to people who don't subscribe because this guy got a free ride.

My issue is they stood and watched it burn with the animals inside. Those can never be replaced just as a human life can't be either. I know that a human and dog aren't the same but they truly are mans best friend and I love my dogs. That is why I have a issue with this. Had it just been a house then oh well I hope he had insurance.

[BushMasterBoy]

If it was my neighbors house I'd be tempted to wrap my left arm around the Fire Chiefs' neck and with my right hand put a gun to his head...then I would be giving the orders!(When in doubt, use force)
And yes I have done crazier things than that...

[soco11]

Do the animals inside count?

If not them why do fds that I pay for save a dogs life in the middle of a lake or a kitten in a tree. I am being a bit fececious here of course.

I agree with what you have said I know he should have paid the fees and I understand the consequences of the fire department losing money to people who don't subscribe because this guy got a free ride.

My issue is they stood and watched it burn with the animals inside. Those can never be replaced just as a human life can't be either. I know that a human and dog aren't the same but they truly are mans best friend and I love my dogs. That is why I have a issue with this. Had it just been a house then oh well I hope he had insurance

.

So it is alright to put the firefighter's lives in danger for the dogs and cats? Send those firefighters in to put their lives in deadly danger to get that cat! Heck, their wives will never miss 'em if they are killed in the fire! The homeowner doesn't care enough about his house and family to pay $6/month but the chief should put all his firefighters into deadly danger for the guy's cats? Yah, that is much better thinking! Thanks for sharing today.

[ChunkyMonkey]

The homeowner doesn't care enough about his house and family to pay $6/month but the chief should put all his firefighters into deadly danger for the guy's cats? Yah, that is much better thinking! Thanks for sharing today.

So for $6/mo, he will?

[Irving]

How did the fire department know no one was in the house if they didn't bother to even show up until the neighbors called?

[sniper7]

.

So it is alright to put the firefighter's lives in danger for the dogs and cats? Send those firefighters in to put their lives in deadly danger to get that cat! Heck, their wives will never miss 'em if they are killed in the fire! The homeowner doesn't care enough about his house and family to pay $6/month but the chief should put all his firefighters into deadly danger for the guy's cats? Yah, that is much better thinking! Thanks for sharing today.

obviously the word facetious has no meaning in your vocabulary....

but I digress; so you are telling me that the firefighters who are .gov paid with my taxes should risk their lives for a dog in a freezing pond or a cat hoarders kitten stuck in a tree, but a fee based PFD should not save a dog or cat in a house that is on fire where the animals will be burned alive?

I've already said screw the guy for not paying his fee and that if his house burned down then I just hoped he had insurance, but intentionally letting his animals be burned alive somehow doesn't see quite fair to the animals who, even if they wanted to, couldn't afford the $6 a month so they wouldn't be burned alive.