Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=mredskins;743967]My question is who has the time to look this stuff up when the alarms are going off? Or [B]does every house have a sticker on it like the car property tax sticker in VA? [/B]

My gut tells me there is more to the story like someone didn't like this guy and they found a loop hole when he was in need.[/quote]

Next time your in your car look at the date on the sticker. I bet its a couple years old because they have not had city stickers for about 3 yrs now. Wake up.:cheeky-sm

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Mattyk;744075]Apples and oranges FD.[/quote]

Really!

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

It's a slippery slope. Those usage fees are obviously a big part of their funding, and they only responded to help the homeowner who did pay. If that gentleman who paid the fees hadn't called, the fire department wouldn't have responded at all.

While it's a damn shame that Mr. Cranick lost his possessions and pets, if the fire department puts this fire out, the precedent would be set that they would have to serve all those who didn't pay as well, or risk lawsuit. The flip side of the coin would be what if a firefighter had lost his life fighting this fire? Would his widow(er) be denied insurance benefits because they were not authorized to put out this fire?

The correct answer isn't always the best answer or the most moral answer.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

I hope they write an article about me when I forget to pay a car payment and the car get's repo'd!!!!!

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744074]Would you expect you auto ins. co. to pay your auto claim if your policy went out for non payment the month before?[/quote]

It's no secret that what Marxist like him really want is a socialized Fire Department with the ability to place a lien on your property if you fail to pay your dues. They're not fooling anybody, we all know that is their end goal,

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

The guy live in a county that has no fire dpt. so the other county provides fire dpt. services for a fee and the didn't pay. The link I provided the guys said he thought they would provide service even if he didn't pay the fee. Semms like he got what he paid for. Nothing I have read says any about the time line of events so maybe by the time they responded to the neighbor who paid the fee it was too late to help the guys dogs.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744095]The guy live in a county that has no fire dpt. so the other county provides fire dpt. services for a fee and the didn't pay. The link I provided the guys said he thought they would provide service even if he didn't pay the fee. Semms like he got what he paid for. Nothing I have read says any about the time line of events so maybe by the time they responded to the neighbor who paid the fee it was too late to help the guys dogs.[/quote]

This is the type of thing where you punish people with fees after the fact. That's your incentive to pay. Make it 10 to 15 times the amount of the yearly service fee. Charge him a fine in the range of $750-$1125. Put a lein on the house of people who don't pay, take it out of their pay check. Do what you have to do to collect the fee. Don't sit there and watch a persons place burn down with his pets inside.

The fire department will be sued. Every lawyer within a 1,000 miles of South Fulton Tennessee is going to want a piece of the settlement that will result from this. The assault charges will be dropped. In the end the fire department looks like idiots in a country where fireman are rightfully deemed real life super heroes.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

Saden why do I get the feeling you're not being totally genuine in your posts on this thread?

Dirtbag I agree, levy the heavy fines and fees after the fact

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=SmootSmack;744126]Saden why do I get the feeling you're not being totally genuine in your posts on this thread?

[B]Dirtbag I agree, levy the heavy fines and fees after the fact[/B][/quote]

Why do you doubt my rational? Do I not make any sense?

Speaking of fines and fees....any of you guys ever forget to pay your semi-annual water and sewage treatment fee to your city? I have. Instead of letting me deal with my own water and sewage acquisition and disposal the f'ing city placed a lien on my property! It cost me $400 with interest and fees. That's big government for you.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Dirtbag359;744122]This is the type of thing where you punish people with fees after the fact. That's your incentive to pay. Make it 10 to 15 times the amount of the yearly service fee. Charge him a fine in the range of $750-$1125. Put a lein on the house of people who don't pay, take it out of their pay check. Do what you have to do to collect the fee. Don't sit there and watch a persons place burn down with his pets inside.

The fire department will be sued. Every lawyer within a 1,000 miles of South Fulton Tennessee is going to want a piece of the settlement that will result from this. The assault charges will be dropped. In the end the fire department looks like idiots in a country where fireman are rightfully deemed real life super heroes.[/quote]

This doesn't work necessarily.

Imagine this becomes the SOP. So what happens? Now people get to basically decide whether to pay the fee or risk having to pay umpteen more in fines/interest/whatever if they have a fire. Let's say it's a lot. Like 100X the fee...so $7500.

Now how many people pay the fee? None? Some? Who knows but I'd bet a good many of them don't pay their fee. As luck would have it most of them won't have a fire but if just one in a hundred does then the whole deal is all square monetarily. But what if only one in thousand do? Now the county is out a bunch of money. Seems to me that the fines/interest have to be significant...to the point of prohibitive. I am guessing a guy living in a double-wide in a poorish rural county doesn't have the juice to pay $20,000 in fines.

This is definitely not a simple moral question to me. On one hand you can't simply make it policy to provide a service whether someone paid for it or not. Regardless of the nature of the service the leverage to actually collect a fee for the service disappears as soon as you set precedent that the fee is essentially voluntary. On the other hand it obviously doesn't seem right that someone loses their home because of a stupid $75 fee. I guess sometimes fair and right aren't the same thing.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=FRPLG;744190]This doesn't work necessarily.

Imagine this becomes the SOP. So what happens? Now people get to basically decide whether to pay the fee or risk having to pay umpteen more in fines/interest/whatever if they have a fire. Let's say it's a lot. Like 100X the fee...so $7500.

Now how many people pay the fee? None? Some? Who knows but I'd bet a good many of them don't pay their fee. As luck would have it most of them won't have a fire but if just one in a hundred does then the whole deal is all square monetarily. But what if only one in thousand do? Now the county is out a bunch of money. Seems to me that the fines/interest have to be significant...to the point of prohibitive. I am guessing a guy living in a double-wide in a poorish rural county doesn't have the juice to pay $20,000 in fines.

This is definitely not a simple moral question to me. On one hand you can't simply make it policy to provide a service whether someone paid for it or not. Regardless of the nature of the service the leverage to actually collect a fee for the service disappears as soon as you set precedent that the fee is essentially voluntary. On the other hand it obviously doesn't seem right that someone loses their home because of a stupid $75 fee. I guess sometimes fair and right aren't the same thing.[/quote]

There's a simple principle in contract law. No contract is above the law. The fact that this county and fire department is allowed to ignore a house fire should be a crime. Just like it's illegal for a police officer to ignore a person in need. The closest scenario I can think of is having an illegal alien getting robbed of their belongings right in front of an officer and the officer does nothing. And why should he? The illegal alien doesn't pay his salary.

On top of that the firefighters were way to cocky in this story. A house is burning, that's a hazard. You don't know if something is going to blow up, like a gas line or a propane tank, and do more damage (and you can't say they knew it was safe to let the house burn because they didn't show up when they were initially called). Instead they waited for the fire to approach the neighbors property and then only fought the flames approaching the neighboring property. Someone could have been hurt due negligence. As sick as it sounds, they're lucky that the only casualties were the pets. It's not much different then us taking for granted that we were going to beat the Rams this year.

Protect and serve is not a suggestion based on capitalism. It's a basic right that keeps the citizens of this country safe. You don't get to make an example of people who skimp on payments like that. You find another way to remedy the situation. Actually above all else it's obvious that this method of paying for fire protection is obviously broken. This should have never been an issue to begin with.

Check out the video to see what another local fire chief had to say.
[url=http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=13280391]Woman Says Firefighters Blameless In House Burning - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports[/url]

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Dirtbag359;744193]There's a simple principle in contract law. No contract is above the law. The fact that this county and fire department is allowed to ignore a house fire should be a crime. Just like it's illegal for a police officer to ignore a person in need. The closest scenario I can think of is having an illegal alien getting robbed of their belongings right in front of an officer and the officer does nothing. And why should he? The illegal alien doesn't pay his salary.

On top of that the firefighters were way to cocky in this story. A house is burning, that's a hazard. You don't know if something is going to blow up, like a gas line or a propane tank, and do more damage (and you can't say they knew it was safe to let the house burn because they didn't show up when they were initially called). Instead they waited for the fire to approach the neighbors property and then only fought the flames approaching the neighboring property. Someone could have been hurt due negligence. As sick as it sounds, they're lucky that the only casualties were the pets. It's not much different then us taking for granted that we were going to beat the Rams this year.

Protect and serve is not a suggestion based on capitalism. It's a basic right that keeps the citizens of this country safe. You don't get to make an example of people who skimp on payments like that. You find another way to remedy the situation. Actually above all else it's obvious that this method of paying for fire protection is obviously broken. This should have never been an issue to begin with.

Check out the video to see what another local fire chief had to say.
[url=http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=13280391]Woman Says Firefighters Blameless In House Burning - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports[/url][/quote]

If you create a legal responsibility for them to provide a service regardless of payment what incentive exists for the citizens to pay the money that the service costs?

I want to make clear that I am not for them having let the place burn down necessarily. I simply don't know enough about the specifics economically, logistically and administratively. So my opinion is more from a general point of view.

In this case they were denied a service they had no legal right to. The fire-fighters have a responsibility to the people who pay for their service. What they do simply isn't free or even cheap...someone has to pay for it. And a system has to be in place that efficiently collects the money needed to provide the service to those who pay for it. Railroading the process by inserting real incentives to NOT pay for the service is irresponsible. The solution here isn't to make a service a legal right regardless of payment. It is to make the payment a tax and create other real incentives to pay. Like jail. Don't pay your taxes..go to jail.

But here they had to make a call. Put out a fire and create the impression and precedent that paying the fee is not only NOT mandatory but economically stupid or let the fire go. Anything that realistically puts the necessary funding of public safety at risk in the general community is way more irresponsible and unethical than letting someone's house burn down in my opinion. I can see a very realistic situation that endangers proper funding here. That is a huge problem.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

BTW...this is a super-interesting discussion to me. I work in local gov't so I have the perspective of a damned bureaucrat when it comes to stuff like this I guess.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=FRPLG;744199]
But here they had to make a call. Put out a fire and create the impression and precedent that paying the fee is not only NOT mandatory but economically stupid or let the fire go. Anything that realistically puts the necessary funding of public safety at risk in the general community is way more irresponsible and unethical than letting someone's house burn down in my opinion. I can see a very realistic situation that endangers proper funding here. That is a huge problem.[/quote]

Yeah, putting aside for a moment the moral and legal repercussion the fact remain that a fire department, so dependent on funding and donations, made possibly the dumbest mistake they could make from a financing standpoint. Yeah, they saved some money by not fighting the fire and sure they set an example for all 5 people living in the city. However there's something to be said for goodwill, and it's with good reason that businesses across the country strive to acquire it and protect it.

Next time when that fire department goes to the state asking for additional funding they shouldn't be surprised when they get met with a big **** you. Next time they want a raise in salary, '**** you.' Equipment's not up to date, 'looks fine to me.' Standing outside their local Wal-Mart with a fire boot asking for donations, '**** YOU!" The choice they made over $75 in regards to the Cranick's possibly cost them tens of thousands of dollars in funding.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Dirtbag359;744201]Yeah, putting aside for a moment the moral and legal repercussion the fact remain that a fire department, so dependent on funding and donations, made possibly the dumbest mistake they could make from a financing standpoint. Yeah, they saved some money by not fighting the fire and sure they set an example for all 5 people living in the city. However there's something to be said for goodwill, and it's with good reason that businesses across the country strive to acquire it and protect it.

Next time when that fire department goes to the state asking for additional funding they shouldn't be surprised when they get met with a big **** you. Next time they want a raise in salary, '**** you.' Equipment's not up to date, 'looks fine to me.' Standing outside their local Wal-Mart with a fire boot asking for donations, '**** YOU!" The choice they made over $75 in regards to the Cranick's possibly cost them tens of thousands of dollars in funding.[/quote]

You might very well be correct. Emotional responses like this are borne out of the perception that someone was wronged. To me the way to mitigate the risk of that type of perception is that you set the rules (rules that make sense) and you follow them. They followed the rules here. Rules that are in place in some form or another all over the place. I would like to know how this is handled other places. I know this is a common model but we never hear about this happening anywhere else. Fires aren't so uncommon that this couldn't have happened before. Statistically speaking there have to be many fires every year at households where they didn't make their yearly payment.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

I suppose one way to prevent this is to simply charge people to put our fires. Put them all out and hand them a bill when done. That's maybe the fairest way to go about it. Sort of defeats the purpose of a community existing to spread the cost of services out and make them more affordable though.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

i dont see how as a human being you can sit and watch someone's house burn down when you have all the tools to help that person. Incredible, thats what this country has become too worry about a money to help another? I mean thats what it comes down too and $75 at that. Petty society

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Dirtbag359;744201]Yeah, putting aside for a moment the moral and legal repercussion the fact remain that a fire department, so dependent on funding and donations, made possibly the dumbest mistake they could make from a financing standpoint. Yeah, they saved some money by not fighting the fire and sure they set an example for all 5 people living in the city. However there's something to be said for goodwill, and it's with good reason that businesses across the country strive to acquire it and protect it.

Next time when that fire department goes to the state asking for additional funding they shouldn't be surprised when they get met with a big **** you. Next time they want a raise in salary, '**** you.' Equipment's not up to date, 'looks fine to me.' Standing outside their local Wal-Mart with a fire boot asking for donations, '**** YOU!" The choice they made over $75 in regards to the Cranick's possibly cost them tens of thousands of dollars in funding.[/quote]

Your problem is you actually think this is over $75. Its about them providing a service to another county they don't normally service for a fee. I sell Ins. and I guess next time when our customer lets his homeowners lapse and they have a fire 6 months down the road we should still pay the claim. You know in good faith to keep the companies name in good standing. Maybe its time for people to take RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM SELF. I feel bad for the guy but he even admitted that he thought they would still provide service if he did not pay the $75. That tells me he figured why pay the $75 when I can just pay it if something happens. I guess he was wrong.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

Maybe an opt-out statement. If a person absolutely doesn't want to pay the yearly fee, they can put an opt-out statement on file. Otherwise, if the fee is not paid, then as was said, the FD will act in best interests of the property, and a heavy fee will be assessed and that is noted in the annual assessment bill. So, in this case, the homeowner would have had his house protected, but the integrity of fee for service is also maintained in a prior contract.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=saden1;744144]Why do you doubt my rational? Do I not make any sense?[/quote]

It's just not necessarily consistent with your history

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Mattyk;744035]Did Buster and Saden switch accounts in this thread? Seriously I'm confused. :cheeky-sm

At the end of the day we're talking about a measly $75. They seriously let someone's house burn down over $75? As a society you've gotta just ask WTF are we doing?

What's next? Police not responding if you haven't paid a fee?[/quote]


You caught us. We had a detailed plot to overthrow your sanity and when you step down, we were going to hijack your profits and redistribute the wealth to all active members of the WP.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744236]Your problem is you actually think this is over $75. Its about them providing a service to another county they don't normally service for a fee. I sell Ins. and I guess next time when our customer lets his homeowners lapse and they have a fire 6 months down the road we should still pay the claim. You know in good faith to keep the companies name in good standing. Maybe its time for people to take RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM SELF. I feel bad for the guy but he even admitted that he thought they would still provide service if he did not pay the $75. That tells me he figured why pay the $75 when I can just pay it if something happens. I guess he was wrong.[/quote]
I don't think insurance and protecting in advance is quite the same. One is arguable, and can be resolved through a series of grievances; the other has an immediacy about it that can't be repaired retroactively.

I understand your point, but think that the comparison is not 100% valid

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

Yeah, insurance is a product you can shop for and choose your coverages and rates.

Emergency services are not a matter of choice. They're also not a for-profit business like insurance. There's an expectation of them being available when needed.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Buster;744276]You caught us. We had a detailed plot to overthrow your sanity and when you step down, we were going to hijack your profits and redistribute the wealth to all active members of the WP.[/quote]

Profits and wealth... :rofl:

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

I think it's unbelievable that they let someone lose everything and let 3 dogs and a cat burn to death over $75. They took an oath...now they need to do their job-politics or not. What a disgrace.

Firefighters Creed

When I'm called to duty God, Wherever flames may rage
Give me strength to save a life, Whatever be it's age.

Help me to embrace a little child Before it is to late.

Or save an older person from The horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert To hear the weakest shout

And quickly and efficiently To put the fire out

I want to fill my calling and To give the best in me

To guard my neighbor and Protect his property

And if according to your will I have to lose my life

Bless with your protecting hand My children and my wife.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Mattyk;744309]Profits and wealth... :rofl:[/quote]

We saw your house! :cheeky-sm

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=SmootSmack;744273]It's just not necessarily consistent with your history[/quote]

Clearly not. If a town wants to run its government that way, more power to them. If I lived there though I would like to see the Mayor, Fire Chief, every fire fighter at the scene, dispatchers, and whoever thought this was good policy get shitcanned or at the very least get to taste baseball bat woodchips.

It's absurd policy...glad I don't live there.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=saden1;744343]Clearly not. If a town wants to run its government that way, more power to them. If I lived there though I would like to see the Mayor, Fire Chief, every fire fighter at the scene, dispatchers, and whoever thought this was good policy get shitcanned or at the very least get to taste baseball bat woodchips.

It's absurd policy...glad I don't live there.[/quote]

I don't think very many people have read the article. The county which had the fire does not even have a fire department. They rely on another county for fire services and thats why they must pay for the service. The one county has no way of taxing the people of another county so they must charge a fee.

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[quote=Buster;744329]We saw your house! :cheeky-sm[/quote]

Profits and wealth aren't coming from this site, that's all I'm sayin

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744236]Your problem is you actually think this is over $75. Its about them providing a service to another county they don't normally service for a fee. I sell Ins. and I guess next time when our customer lets his homeowners lapse and they have a fire 6 months down the road we should still pay the claim. You know in good faith to keep the companies name in good standing. Maybe its time for people to take RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM SELF. I feel bad for the guy but he even admitted that he thought they would still provide service if he did not pay the $75. That tells me he figured why pay the $75 when I can just pay it if something happens. I guess he was wrong.[/quote]

My problem? My problem is a fire department that doesn't put out fires. My problem is a fire department that puts other people at risk by letting a fire burn. They didn't even show up when a fire was reported. Who does that? At the very least they should have went there to make sure the fire wasn't going to blow anything up.

This is a public service, not the transmission in your car or the mortgage on your house. The citizens should have never been put in this position where they had to pay directly for the service to begin with. God forbid anyone ever forgets to pay a bill.

What if someone looses the paper work, an event thats not to uncommon when it comes to bureaucracy. I still have a collection agency calling me to collect on a surgery in 2009 that was completely paid off. Everytime I talk to them they find out that out but then I get automated calls back from them 4 or 5 months later. Should I have to sort it out during a 911 call?

What the fire department did was reckless and stupid.

Plus the funny thing is that the fire department would have charged the victims an additional $500. I wonder if they have a credit card reader on the truck. If this is the tea parties vision of America then send them away. Let them start their own country.

[quote]Houses in Obion County, Tennessee that lie outside city limits do not automatically receive fire protection. “South Fulton; Kenton and Union City allow their departments to respond outside the city limits by way of a Subscription Service which charges a $75 yearly fee to receive fire protection. After they respond to a “members” fire, the member is billed $500 for the response,” said Kelly Edmison – the fire chief – in a letter posted on the Union City Fire Department website. It would seem, however, that even when you do pay the fee and firefighters are present your house can still be burnt to a crisp. Check out this video of the Fulton Fire Department tackling a structure fire back in 2008. One wonders whether RV’ers passing through Tennessee would suffer a similar fate if their rig caught fire and they hadn’t paid the fee?[/quote]

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

^Great points

I dont get it, these people are your neighbors. Really gets me pissed how petty these people were...i think the story is telling of where this country is

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744361]I don't think very many people have read the article. The county which had the fire does not even have a fire department. They rely on another county for fire services and thats why they must pay for the service. The one county has no way of taxing the people of another county so they must charge a fee.[/quote]

I've read a lot of articles on this-it's not a matter of taxes or a missed payment of a fee...it's a matter of human decency. I couldn't imagine that if I fell behind on my city taxes or forgot to pay something that the city would just tell me I was SOL...or some other stupid shit like that. In this economy-people are struggling...it doesn't mean they have to stand and watch their pets burn to death and lose everything they own in this entire world over some political BS.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=chica-alisha;744376]I've read a lot of articles on this-it's not a matter of taxes or a missed payment of a fee...it's a matter of human decency. I couldn't imagine that if I fell behind on my city taxes or forgot to pay something that the city would just tell me I was SOL...or some other stupid shit like that. In this economy-people are struggling...it doesn't mean they have to stand and watch their pets burn to death and lose everything they own in this entire world over some political BS.[/quote]

So why should anyone ever pay the fee. The guy has changed his story from the clip below to forgetting.

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," the hapless homeowner told reporters.

This sounds like a person who thought why pay the fee if they will still respond to a fire. For the record I could not sit back and watch someone's house burn no matter what happened but I understand why they did.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744361]I don't think very many people have read the article. The county which had the fire does not even have a fire department. They rely on another county for fire services and thats why they must pay for the service. The one county has no way of taxing the people of another county so they must charge a fee.[/quote]

I read it, I understand it (city within the county provides fire protection to the subscribers in surrounding county areas), I don't care for their actions regardless of whether they were contracted or not. Were fire fighters within their rights not to put out the fire? Absolutely. Is it a good policy? Absolutely not.

I rather like my socialist fire department...if hillbillies in Tennessee don't that's their business.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744383]So why should anyone ever pay the fee. The guy has changed his story from the clip below to forgetting.

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," the hapless homeowner told reporters.

This sounds like a person who thought why pay the fee if they will still respond to a fire. For the record I could not sit back and watch someone's house burn no matter what happened but I understand why they did.[/quote]

I don't see it as he's changing his story. He's saying, in my opinion, that he basically can't believe that even though he forgot they still wouldn't put out the fire.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=Mattyk;744035]Did Buster and Saden switch accounts in this thread? Seriously I'm confused. :cheeky-sm

At the end of the day we're talking about a measly $75. They seriously let someone's house burn down over $75? As a society you've gotta just ask WTF are we doing?

What's next? Police not responding if you haven't paid a fee?[/quote]


I grew up spending time in an area that had the same kind of rules. And there were no police. There was a county sherrif that would come if called but it took him an hour. There are still parts of this country that seem very much off the grid. So if no one pays the fee, the fire dept can't operate outside their typical set of parameters and everyone's house burns... Why assume the liability and risk endangering the lives of firefighters for someone who opts to assume the liability on their own by not paying the fee? If there are kids in the house its JUST as much the parent's responsibility to ensure the safety of THEIR OWN children by paying the fee that would protect them in this instance as it would be the firefighters to risk their lives to save them. Im not saying it would be right for them not to help, but let's not put the firemen on a cross and neglect the fact that ultimately the homeowner's home, property, and family is THEIR responsibility.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=SmootSmack;744386]I don't see it as he's changing his story. He's saying, in my opinion, that he basically can't believe that even though he forgot they still wouldn't put out the fire.[/quote]
See from that statement I don't think he forgot to make the payment. I think he decide sense they would come anyways why pay the fee and just pay them when or if something happens.

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

The time to determine who should owe what, what law/rule has been violated, how to handle it going forward, etc is...AFTER we have helped our neighbors to save their pets, their belongings and their house. It is NOT while we watch their lives and those of their dogs and cat go up in flames.
There are times we are all faced with that we SHOULD go against the "grain" and do what is morally right in the face of the rules? It is indeed a shame the fire crew apparently did not feel that way as according to the article, they stood and watched it burn,
Effectively they traded much of these peoples lives for $75. They SHOULD be ashamed. If you can justify it.........wow

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

[quote=firstdown;744383]So why should anyone ever pay the fee. The guy has changed his story from the clip below to forgetting.

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," the hapless homeowner told reporters.

This sounds like a person who thought why pay the fee if they will still respond to a fire. For the record I could not sit back and watch someone's house burn no matter what happened but I understand why they did.[/quote]

Why is there a fee to begin with?

Re: Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee
 

Hard to believe this is even a debate.