Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee

This just doesn't seem right to me. I get that there are rules, but it's not fair to the anyone involved to just stand there and watch a home (and pets) burn because of some unpaid fee

Firefighters Let Home Burn After Finding Owner Didn't Pay Annual Fee (http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/firefighters-let-home-burn-after-finding-owner-didnt-pay-annual-fee/19662595)

Thats horrible...

All over a $75 fee??? Wow

NOT right. Well..........I bet the rest of the county ponies up the $75.
Actually, I need to go...write a check......

It's common practice in rural areas. The only reason they even showed was because a neighbor who had paid the fee called and was worried about the fire damaging his property. Otherwise they wouldn't have been there at all.

It's common practice in rural areas. The only reason they even showed was because a neighbor who had paid the fee called and was worried about the fire damaging his property. Otherwise they wouldn't have been there at all.

That's messed up.

I get the need to watch your bottom line, believe me. And if there were two houses burning at the same time and only 1 paid the fee, I'd be totally in favor of saving the one that paid the fee.

But if you don't have anywhere else you have to be? If you'd just be playing cards in the firehouse? Put out the damn fire.

That's messed up.

To me it is and it isn't.

Areas like this don't have the money to have paid fire protection units so they contract with surrounding localities to provide them. Public safety costs money and when fire units have to leave their locality it creates a public safety issue so they have to hire more people to offset this possibility. More money. Look at it this way...for 75 bucks their house doesn't burn down.

A better solution is to have the county contract on its own and then pass the cost on via taxes. Then firefighters don't have to deny service.

This is very common in rural areas. In fact it is the norm.

On a positive firefighters note:

I took my son to visit the fire house after work last night in my neighborhood. the reason I did it was because they came to visit his day care and he was really scared of them, so I was nervous that if we had a fire he may not go to a fireman if he needed rescuing. Probably a over protective parent move but hey I rather be safe then sorry. Anywho, they were super nice showed him all the equipment one guy even put on his stuff and hat so he could see how they look. It seemed to work my son really warmed up to them and had a ball they even invited us for dinner with them.

Basically don't blame the firefighters. They don't have a choice. They have rules they have to follow. Blame the politicians and administrators who created the system that lets this happen.