Posted on 02/16/2006 3:52:53 PM PST by LouAvul
Edited on 02/16/2006 6:43:01 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
MONETT, Mo. (AP) - Rural firefighters stood by and watched a fire destroy a garage and a vehicle because the property owner had not paid membership dues.
Bibaldo Rueda - who was injured battling the flames Monday - offered to pay the dues as the fire blazed away, but the Monett Rural Fire Department does not have a policy for on-the-spot billing, Sheriff's Detective Robert Evenson said.
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
Read the article, they always intervene when there is life at stake.
Then the story would be, "Fire Department Demands $20,000 Payment to Fight Fire"
Only a chump would believe otherwise.
A garage and a vehicle were destroyed while so called fire fighters looked on?
Unions suck!
Municipal unions (rural or otherwise) suck even more.
This is horrible precedent.
I've read about such things before in other communities, and I was equally outraged.
I was speaking in generalities, but it could still apply, as it isn't always clear that someone is in the building. See my 146.
The bill would be a lien on the home, and if the home is red tagged and not repaired while sitting in a neighborhood, then the place will be taken and sold so the property would not become a ghetto.
I don't know how a state would handle a burned down home in a rural area of perhaps a farm.
The poor have the same rules here, but if they are renting, their landlords handle the fees to protect the property.
You're right, it's not. It's about this cheapskate loser either A) being too stupid to investigate local services before moving in or B) gambling that he could save a few bucks because, hey, I ain't gonna have a fire.
I take away that you are a staunch libertarian. I'm not. I think some services such as the police, work best when a tax is levied to pay for them. But their system is their system and the person in question should have paid his dues.
My reference to our last piece ,was what we paid for the last Piece of Fire equipment we bought, Believe me I dont have $450,000 dollars
I am sorry but New ladder trucks can run as high as $750,000 dollars. When you buy all the Bells and whistles and new Pumpers run from $150,000 up. Many rural Companies buy their equipment Second hand from companies better off., Fire Trucks are not cheap and todays requirements for crew cabs and safety devices cost money. You arent harrassing me. When I was 16 I joined the Volunteer Fire Department, my father helped to start, When I was 21 I was working full time for the DC Fire Department as a paid professional Firefighter.,I worked there for 25 years, I have a Brother
who recently retired from DC, Two Brothers in Law who belong to Volunteer Fire Depts. and 3 Sisters active in the Ladys Auxiliary.I am still a Volunteer. I have paid my dues as a professional and as a Volunteer, I have spent my share of nights in the cold at fires , auto accidents and rescuing stupid boaters.
I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams standing by and watching a fire destroy anyones home or garage , and watching that man injure himself doing it.
If your system works as described it sucks. We used to go around collecting donations and running carnivals to get donations. It got tiresome. We sponsored a county fire tax.
The county collects the money according to property values and need and disperses it accordingly.
Now everyone pays ,the payment is according to your Home value and it isnt near a thousand dollars.
We have no paid men where I live , its all volunteer but now we dont have to beg for money. At no time did we ever not put out a fire because someone was cheap. Thats not what real Firemen do.
A wise man once said RTHFA
So... they just stand outside and assume that there are no lives at stake, huh?
Who do you suppose investigates arson cases in that county? Same outfit...?
Volunteer fire companies I've had experience with (DE,MD,VA) do not have a pay or burn policy, so I find this concept sort of "out there."
I have no idea how much I contribute to the local VFDs. There is a certain amount included in property taxes, that ranges from 2 to 7 cents per $1000 of assessed value, and I don't bother keeping track of my personal contributions because I participate in so many various fundraisers at so many different ones.
The concept just makes no sense to me.........but if it works for other communities, who am I to tell them differently?
Yup. He shoulda' paid his protection money.
Lemmee guess... there's a big fire every year or so right about the time to collect fees...
"If your system works as described it sucks"
It's tough to drop a twenty dollar check in the mail. I think I need federal assistance and training on how to write a check and how to address an envelope.
You know, they could have put the fire out when the guy offered to pay and then billed him for it. Officious little pricks.""
Check the history of insurance companies.
In New England, only houses with brass plaques on the front were worked on by fire fighters who were paid by the insurance that the home owner paid directly for. Interesting items, the plaques. There is a restaurant in mid-Wisconsin on the Wisconsin River that has a large collection and display of them, explaining the practice.
Since the information about this was available to local home owners, I don't see this any different from any other kind of insurance coverage, especially flood insurance.
Good point, except that it's $20 a YEAR not a month! In my town of 750 persons so maybe 200 hundred or so houses would make $40,000 a year for the volunteer fire department to spend on equipment and they cover much more in rural areas not including just the town. Not too much I think.
Monett, about 30 miles from here has about 10,000, mostly illegals now due to the chicken plants (didn't use to be that way). I suspect they really don't want to pay even $20 for fire protection when they think our tax dollars would pay for it, hence the big stink. Everyone else around here knows you either pay or your house burns down. They send a letter every year when you are required to pay the $20, if you don't, they always note that you will not be covered and if called they will not aid unless there is danger of life. That's just the way it is, I lived with it for years, always that yearly letter and bill.
A lot of the rural ambulance services work on the same principle , pay one amount for a yearly membership or pay a higher fee later for thier services.
Actually we under a severe dought.
Hmm that reminds me, it might be time to think about checking into what type of fire service this community has that I moved into 1 1/2 years ago.
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