Didn't Pay Your $75 - Sorry, No Fire Dept For You

[bdc30]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/

Your thoughts on this?? Here's the short version...

Guy didn't pay his fire dept fee for the year to the township ($75). Out burning some garbage, it gets out of control. Calls 911 for assistance. Is told sorry, you're not on our list - we ain't coming. House burns to the ground. Couple pets killed but no people.

Feel differently if people are injured/killed??

Personally I think it's hilarious.....

 

[Pietastervw]

I understand from the one side that he didn't pay for the fire service, but from a human standpoint how can you just stand there and watch someone's life burn to the ground. Even worse the guy has to watch his house burn down while the fire dept is saving the field of the neighbor.
Guy was willing to pay what he had to to get them to do something. Good way to teach people a lesson Mr. Mayor "because the only people who would pay would be those whose homes are on fire."
Like I said on one hand I understand but on the other hand to just watch the house burn seems absurd.
Good thing out here in the sticks the volunteer fire depts ,which is what most towns around here have, don't operate like this and to those gentleman THANK YOU.

 

[PLUSH]

I find it sad, sad for the fact that the fire department did nothing. DO they not have a pledge like the police to protect and serve? I mean come on, put the fire out then have the city charge what they want. It is not like he didn't pay his cable bill that month so they shut off the cable. We have an alarm ordinance, you pay a yearly fee, that way if the police respond and you are not on the list, they charge you a $200 fee or some such for not registering your alarm. I doubt the police would come out and not stop a crime because you were not paid up.


Let the lawyers line up.

 

[bdc30]

Good thing out here in the sticks the volunteer fire depts ,which is what most towns around here have, don't operate like this and to those gentleman THANK YOU.

Actually that brings up something else I wondered about. We have volunteer firefighters in my town as well.

A friend of ours was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the highway. She rolled her vehicle but was not injured or trapped. She called the police right away and told them about it and said she did NOT need the ambulance or fire depts to attend.

Someone else who drove by in the other direction saw the accident and thought it looked severe. THEY called ambulance, who in turn asked for the assistance of the volunteer fire dept. All the fire trucks and ambulances went to the scene, provided no assistance or treatment (as none was needed), turned around and went back to the hall.

About 2 weeks later, my friend gets a BILL from the volunteer fire dept for their services of over $1200. I told her there was not a chance in hell I'd be paying that.

Thoughts?

 

[itallushrt]

I understand from the one side that he didn't pay for the fire service, but from a human standpoint how can you just stand there and watch someone's life burn to the ground. Even worse the guy has to watch his house burn down while the fire dept is saving the field of the neighbor.
Guy was willing to pay what he had to to get them to do something. Good way to teach people a lesson Mr. Mayor "because the only people who would pay would be those whose homes are on fire."
Like I said on one hand I understand but on the other hand to just watch the house burn seems absurd.
Good thing out here in the sticks the volunteer fire depts ,which is what most towns around here have, don't operate like this and to those gentleman THANK YOU.

Having lived through a house fire and losing ALL of my possessions let me get one thing straight. They are just MATERIAL POSSESSIONS and most of them needed to be burned anyway. So saying that this guys life burned to the ground is ridiculous. I had insurance for such an event. This guy did to to replace his stuff. What he didn't pay for was the "insurance" that the fire fighters service provided. Saying he forgot is BS in my opinion. He didn't think he needed the service so he didn't pay. It really is probably that simple. He probably didn't have any problem remembering to pay his other bills or his tab at the bar.

In this day and age NOTHING is EVER anyones own fault.

 

[Pietastervw]

Actually that brings up something else I wondered about. We have volunteer firefighters in my town as well.

A friend of ours was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the highway. She rolled her vehicle but was not injured or trapped. She called the police right away and told them about it and said she did NOT need the ambulance or fire depts to attend.

Someone else who drove by in the other direction saw the accident and thought it looked severe. THEY called ambulance, who in turn asked for the assistance of the volunteer fire dept. All the fire trucks and ambulances went to the scene, provided no assistance (as none was needed), turned around and went back to the hall.

About 2 weeks later, my friend gets a BILL from the volunteer fire dept for their services of over $1200. I told her there was not a chance in hell I'd be paying that.

Thoughts?

Didn't realize that could happen, but in that instance I'd say your friend refused the ambulance service and I'm sure the police have it recorded. I'm with you, no chance in hell I'd pay it.

 

[iCraig]

Didn't realize that could happen, but in that instance I'd say your friend refused the ambulance service and I'm sure the police have it recorded. I'm with you, no chance in hell I'd pay it.

Austin-Travis County EMS will charge you a $150 fee if they show up to a scene and you refuse service. However, they can't bill you unless you actually called 911 yourself.. If you didn't all you need to do is tell them you didn't call and they can't technically bill you for a service you didn't request.

 

[smokemifugotem]

75 should have been like a insurance premium...u don't pay...$10000 bill for putting out your house fire...just a thought

 

[Pietastervw]

75 should have been like a insurance premium...u don't pay...$10000 bill for putting out your house fire...just a thought

makes sense to have some kind of fee so that this type of thing doesn't happen. It's just too bad all around.

 

[tobii3]

This isn't the first time that it happened, and the measure has been in place for TWENTY years.

Wonder what he was thinking when he started the fire??

 

[Dread]

Every single person involved in that fire not being put out should be ashamed, this is America, not some third world country. Saying no to an emergency is absolutly ridiculous. I think some people need to lose their jobs because of this.

 

[Jfire]

My city(and others) are paid directly thru your tax bill. I'm guessing that citizens such as this and like this http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7692654 don't want these services in place to begin with. They like others think they'll never need us. IT'S A INSURANCE PREMIUM YOU PAY TO HAVE POLICE AND FIRE. Is it right to not put out this fire? NO. But what if they did and paying residents found out.......... Do you think there going to pay. I'm not from the area so who knows if they changed the laws in this county/region to self pay from taxes or what not. All I know is this probably isn't the best way to make sure your local police and fire are taken care of.

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

"All I know is this probably isn't the best way to make sure your local police and fire are taken care of."

And that's the bottomline to me too, excellant point Justin! :thumbsup:

 

[ChazHollywood]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/

Your thoughts on this?? Here's the short version...

Guy didn't pay his fire dept fee for the year to the township ($75). Out burning some garbage, it gets out of control. Calls 911 for assistance. Is told sorry, you're not on our list - we ain't coming. House burns to the ground. Couple pets killed but no people.

Feel differently if people are injured/killed??

Personally I think it's hilarious.....

Personal responsibility, dude, he made his choice. If it was really so important to him he would have paid the fee.

Is it better to use the tax system to force him to pay for fire protection like a bunch of nanny-state socialists?.

-Charles

 

[Alwayslit]

This is so f'in backward I still trying to wrap my head around this. The fire dept which I'm sure is subsidized through the county let the house burn down over $75. Now the guy has no home can probably have his property taxes reduced and take county, state, and Federal services to help him get on his feet which will cost way more than $75. And what about the surrounding property, will that be endangered also? Whose f'in bright idea was this, I'd like to know.

 

[Treinenwj]

Does this fire department not get funded through taxes? I don't believe it could operate on $75 per household for it's annual budget so it's got to be getting subsidized. The only way it would be even REMOTELY acceptable for them to just do nothing is if they are completely independent, not relying on taxes at all.
But what do I know? This is the first time I've even heard of people having to pay a fee in order for the fire dept to respond, maybe this is common and I just live in a sane city?

 

[BEN(SWEDEN)]

Wow, I dont even know what to say about that. Just living somewhere that has a fee for firedepartment is unheard of for me! Feel sry for the guy and his family!!

 

[tobii3]

For those of you who fail to understand a RURAL fire department, let alone a rural VOLUNTEER fire department, you might wanna do some research before you jump to conclusions.

The decision for the "subscription fee" was made TWENTY YEARS ago.

It's not like it was made last week.

My uncle is a Volunteer with the MCFD - Mariposa County Fire Department - they were using a 1958 fire engine up until recently to respond to calls because that is all they could afford. He's got scars from burns all over his body because of worn turnout equipment (once again, all they can afford). Do you think he got Workers Comp for his injuries? Think again - He was a VOLUNTEER.

Lose the attitude already. This guy expected something for nothing. He got what he deserved. There isn't a "oh I forgot"" excuse in a rural area...the VOLUNTEER Fire Departments have to rely on the DONATIONS of the community in order to operate and support their requirements.

 

[smokem94]

Play and live by the rules and don't whine when it backfires on your ass!!!

 

[smokem94]

Wow, I dont even know what to say about that. Just living somewhere that has a fee for firedepartment is unheard of for me! Feel sry for the guy and his family!!

You don't pay taxes???? I think you pay a bigger fee than you think you do for all the "free" stuff!