Why couldn’t they make it so that if they put out the fire, and you didn’t by $75, you get a bill for say, $500.
The problem is that by not putting out the fire on his house, it endangered the other houses in the area that did pay their $75.
They came to the aid of the house next door because it was in danger. If everybody knew that they only had to pay when the FD showed up, nobody would pay. Without the $75/house up front, they might not have enough $ to maintain their vehicles, facilities, gear, etc. Also, before the $75 fee, no rural homes had fire department protection. Before the fee, any rural house fire went without assistance. The FD was nice enough to provide service for a small, upfront fee. Gift-horse, mouth, get it?