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

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Didn't read the whole thread or check the link; just a thought.

Could this guy have done it on purpose to collect on insurance money?

Apologies if this has been covered.
 

Cigar Cowboy

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Didn't read the whole thread or check the link; just a thought.

Could this guy have done it on purpose to collect on insurance money?

Apologies if this has been covered.
I doubt it. He was begging them to put it out. Even his neighbors were offering to write checks for any amount to the firemen who stood by and watched it burn.

Just another bad Government policy. Enjoy your new health care!!!
 
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Man first of all emergency service fire, police, emt should never be on a subscription basis, but it was so he should of just paid the fee, he didn't forget he just never got around to it, he thought they'll just waive the fee and i'll pay afterwards. After reading and seeing the video i have a couple of questions/comments. He didn't look that old so how old was this grandson that was burning garbage? From the video footage looked like his house was surrounded by trees and brush so how far from the house was he burning garbage? The big headline grabber is that firefighters watched his house burn, how much of the house was on fire when the firefighters showed up for his neigbors? was is just part of the house, or was it already a total loss by the time they were there? It's tough to really make a judgement cause this is all third hand knowledge but i guess it boils down to he knew the rules, rolled the dice and came up snake eyes. If people don't like the policies they should be more involved in there local government.
 
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Sounds like a gamble people take everyday with insurance you can go 1,5,10 etc..etc without an accident, you let your insurance lap *BLAM* it's just one of those things that you don't miss until you need it. My opinion, even though the economy is rough $75.00 is worth the comfort of knowing that in case of emergency the last thing or first thing out of your mouth won't be "Damn I forgot to pay my fire Bill!"
 

itallushrt

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You all realize that this has happened in the past, and will happen again in the future, right?

Tha Gub'ment can't wipe everyones butt for them. In rural areas this is nothing new. If the county wanted fire service they would have voted in officials who made it a priority, but instead my guess would be they voted in their cousin Jimmy instead who promised to get everyone a $20 credit on their satellite dish bill.
 

Cigar Cowboy

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Wow I just heard they let the family pets die.

OK 99.999.% of firefighters are heroes. These guys are heartless bastards.

Yes, the guy should have paid his $75.00. They should have put out the fire and charged the guy a premium. Let him make payments on the premium. Hit his credit report if he did not pay. Whatever - what kind of poor excuse of human beings stand there and let this happen. These is one the most outrageous examples of Government bureaucracy failing the people I have every seen. I am sick to my stomach!!!!
 
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bdc30

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Wow I just heard they let the family pets die.

OK 99.999.% of firefighters are heroes. These guys are heartless bastards.
....I know you and I don't usually agree on, well, anything - so I'm not going to attempt to argue with you on this one. All I will do is quote something from an actual firefighter who already posted in this thread...Care to call him a "heartless bastard"?

I view my job as a calling and you can bet I'm most likely not going into a trailer home looking for a Pet. Trailer homes are some of the deadliest fires for us. It's called risk and reward. I don't want my chief knocking on my families door saying he died for a cat. Its a pet although some see it a family member it's not. It can be replaced although with some detriment to the family. A human being is another story. We our taught in our profession daily to think about the risk and reward of our duties on fire scenes. Still to this day too many of us across the country our dying for the wrong reasons.
I'm just asking everyone reading this to not Monday morning quarterback because none of us were there.
 

Cigar Cowboy

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...Care to call him a "heartless bastard"?
What a little instigator.

I can respect that jolietilfire has to assess dangers and make decisions based on those dangers. However, I don't think he and his crew would have watched the place burn to the ground and have done nothing would he? I would not expect him or any other FireFighter to kicked down the door to rescue a kitten if it put his life in danger. It is the overall situation that makes these guys heartless bastards. Nice job trying to vilify me though.

I would have never stood by and watched. My friends ranch was in the path of a huge out of control California wildfire. All the neighbors jumped into action in a very risky situation. We got most of the cattle into the roping arena and out of the path of the fire. Sadly they all still died of smoke inhalation. It was horrible, but we did our best.

In addition, I have volunteered with a program that works with Los Angeles and Ventura County Fire Depts for Horse Rescue. We evacuate horses in the event of these fires. I put my money, time, efforts and personal safety where my mouth is.
 
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Fox

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I've read the reports now, and much as I would like to agree with John and Mike here (if you live in a rural area, you better damn well support your local FD...in most cases, it's all they have), I still must disagree.

A human being just cannot watch another's house burn down. There is no excuse for that.
Greg, you have just illustrated a major problem with our country today. You are making an emotional and moral argument for a man who made a very bad life and business decision. By saying there is no excuse for that you are attempting to place your emotional state and moral beliefs upon others and seem to imply that a legislative change is in order for the situation because you dislike the way it played out. . .all because of $75. As the old saying goes: "It is always about whose ox is being gored." We end up with emotion driven legislation all the time because of the desire for risk free lives. Whatever happened to personal responsibility and accountability for one's actions? To paraphrase the old knight from Indiana Jones Last Crusade: "This guy chose. . .poorly." I am not without empathy for the family's loss, but they were stupid, almost beyond belief.
 

bdc30

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What a little instigator.

I can respect that jolietilfire has to assess dangers and make decisions based on those dangers. However, I don't think he and his crew would have watched the place burn to the ground and have done nothing would he?
...he's already said in this very thread that as part of a paramilitary style organization, if that's what their chief had told them to do, that's what they would have done. Have you even read the replies here? I too work in a paramilitary organization with a chain of command. If my sgt. says here's what we're doing, it's not my job to question it, it's my job to execute it. If/when it goes wrong, he's the one holding the bag. Your anger at the firefighters here is misguided.

No matter how passionate they are they probably couldn't deploy for the fire without permission from someone in charge.
Its called chain of command and we follow it every day being a Paramilitary organization. Thank you for pointing it out.
 
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