Mo. firefighters refuse to help non-member

modbee ^ | 2-16-06

[LouAvul]

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.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Anyone who thinks "volunteer" means being paid is a nut.

This is how a VOLUNTEER fire department gets formed:

1. You live in a rural area with no fire department and no taxing authority to create one.
2. You would like to have a fire department available in case your house catches on fire.
3. You talk to neighbors and peope in surrounding towns to see if they would like to create a fire department.
4. You form a group of VOLUNTEER firefighters.
5. Your group doesn't have $400,000 to buy a fire truck and another $300,000 to build a station house.
6. You offer fire protection to anybody who pays your group $100 per year for a tag to put on their mailbox proving they paid for fire protection.
7. You use the $100 per year from all the people who paid it to buy a fire truck, build a station house and train the VOLUNTEER firefighters to minimize the possibility of their dying while fighting a fire.
8. Since it costs you thousands of dollars in wear and tear on your fire truck and equipment to put out a fire, not to mention the danger to the lives of the firefighters, you don't put out the fires of people who didn't help pay for the equipment and training of the firefighters.

Exactly which part of the above do you not understand?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If this guy has done anything wrong, its that he's not paid a tax.

THIS AIN'T THE GOVERNMENT!!!! IT'S VOLUNTEERS!!!!!

ONLY A SOCIALIST THINKS "THE GOVERNMENT" SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THEM FOR FREE!!!!

This is how a VOLUNTEER fire department gets formed:

1. You live in a rural area with no fire department and no taxing authority to create one.
2. You would like to have a fire department available in case your house catches on fire.
3. You talk to neighbors and peope in surrounding towns to see if they would like to create a fire department.
4. You form a group of VOLUNTEER firefighters.
5. Your group doesn't have $400,000 to buy a fire truck and another $300,000 to build a station house.
6. You offer fire protection to anybody who pays your group $100 per year for a tag to put on their mailbox proving they paid for fire protection.
7. You use the $100 per year from all the people who paid it to buy a fire truck, build a station house and train the VOLUNTEER firefighters to minimize the possibility of their dying while fighting a fire.
8. Since it costs you thousands of dollars in wear and tear on your fire truck and equipment to put out a fire, not to mention the danger to the lives of the firefighters, you don't put out the fires of people who didn't help pay for the equipment and training of the firefighters.

Exactly which part of the above do you not understand?

[dennisw]

You know, they could have put the fire out when the guy offered to pay and then billed him for it. Officious little pricks.

A better policy would be to bill him 10 times the annual dues with him knowing that lawyers will pursue him if he doesn't pay (with him paying these legal expenses) and a lien goes on the house if it isn't paid

To be harsh on this guy he seems to be a recent immigrant to the USA and should not have been a wise guy. He should have paid his yearly firefighting dues

[Smokin' Joe]

I was all over that website and the only reference I could find to fire Dept income/ outlay was here City budget(page 30 of the .pdf file). I saw no mention of a $20.00 or any other fee, but I did just scan it quickly. Their equipment looks good in the photo, definitely not junk unless they only polish the outside (and I seriously doubt that).

An earlier poster had mentioned they were about 20 miles away and the alternative to calling the local Dept, iirc, so maybe they are using a different system.

[listenhillary]

Federal Civil Rights lawsuits are a lottery. I would be tempted to vote for very large damages here.

You cheer the gutting of businesses and PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS by trial lawyers? How compassionate is that? Are you going to go out asking homeless wino's for a job after the businesses have been gutted?

When your neighbors house catches on fire after the VOLUNTEER fire department has been sued out of existence, will you will stand and cheer "But it was compassionate conservativism!"

You're not very bright either. Bring on the lawsuit, they can piss away more money and lose, while lining the pockets of trial lawyers.

This is an association that you pay to join. I still think you're a confused conservative that may have stumbled into FR.

[dennisw]

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.

BINGO! You hit the answer. The guys name is Bibaldo Rueda. This says to me he got here recently. Is he a legal immigrant? My guess would be yes since he has (had) a house. But he was still a wise guy who thought that the suckers (taxpayers) who actually pay their FD dues would take care of him in a pinch. Well, the fire came and the FD let his house burn down

Tell you this, everyone will be paying their lousy $20 next year and for years to come

[listenhillary]

"If he does not pay, then the county can take legal action to take his property."

Here come the gaggle of lawyers.

[NCLaw441]

I don't know if he is legal or not. I thought he had lived there a year and a half, so not exactly a newcomer. Also, his house didn't burn down. It was a garage and a vehicle.

[pepsionice]

Even if a community passes a fire "tax" or "fee"...then you have the issue of the homes outside of the community or town. Where I grew up...only 30 percent of the locals actually live in the town...the rest are outside of the city limits. The interesting thing is that in the beginning....almost all of the members of the fire department were from outside of the city limits...and after six years...they demanded that the fire station be moved 1 mile outside of the city limits because of various political fighting within the town. The city council said NO...and the entire fire department resigned in mass. It took 3 weeks to get a group of 12 guys up and volunteered for the local fire dept. The out-of-town folks don't like paying the standard $80 fee per year for services...and there are constant battles occurring when fires erupt with a non-payer...which the fire department puts a form in front of the family member and demands a minimum of $250 before they drag the hoses out.

This is rural America, and the garbage one must put up with. Its part of your lifestyle that you must accept. Turf battles over fire...as silly as it is.

[Tokra]

It's for real. We have the same arrangement here in metro Phoenix. They will put out the fire if you are not a subscriber but then send you a bill (for thousands, likely). The idea is to keep adjoining subscriber properties from burning down.

How strange this is. We had a volunteer fire department in the area I grew up in, but you didn't have to be a "member" of anything to call the fire department. Township taxes paid for the fire truck and fire hall - but there was no money to pay salaries, so citizens (including my father) responded when the fire siren blew. The thought of paying for this is an alien concept for me. Obviously its different in the West.

[dennisw]

If he didn't lose his house he should be thanking God and stop complaining. With a name like his and living in Missouri, I'll bet this guy has lived in America not more than 5 years. America has been good to him (probably too good) and he figured it would be good enough to put out his fire even though he had not paid FD dues.

[listenhillary]

$20 a year is a bargain for fire protection. I'm sure my property tax bill for fire protection is many many times that amount.

[houeto]

I am from Pasadena, Texas. The Pasadena Fire Department is the largest single municipal volunteer fire department in the United States. We would never, under any circumstances, watch someone's property be destroyed without trying to fight it. Period.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The thought of paying for this is an alien concept for me.

The city was not paying for the firefighting equipment like they did in your town.

The sole source of funding for most volunteer fire departments is from paying members.

Without funds for equipment, there is no fire department, volunteer or otherwise.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

We would never, under any circumstances, watch someone's property be destroyed without trying to fight it.

That's because part of the Pasadena firefighting funding comes from taxes, unlike this volunteer department, whose sole source of funding is from its members.

Without a funding source to purchase equipment, there is no fire department, volunteer or otherwise.

[listenhillary]

"I am from Pasadena, Texas. The Pasadena Fire Department is the largest single municipal volunteer fire department in the United States. We would never, under any circumstances, watch someone's property be destroyed without trying to fight it. Period."

Good for you. Sounds like you have the funds to absorb the costs. Some of these rural places do not.

[Tokra]

The city was not paying for the firefighting equipment like they did in your town

Why on earth are they not? I can't think of a more important reason for the existence of a local government other than to provide fire and police protection.

If it doesn't do that - why even have it?

I grew up in an "unincorporated" township. Taxes were fairly low - the ONLY thing the township provided was police and fire protection. If they didn't even do that - what would be their reason for being?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I can't think of a more important reason for the existence of a local government other than to provide fire and police protection.

You must be a city boy who doesn't understand that in rural areas THERE IS NO LOCAL GOVERNMENT other than one or two sherriff's deputies per COUNTY.

This is how a VOLUNTEER fire department gets formed:

1. You live in a rural area with no fire department and no taxing authority to create one.
2. You would like to have a fire department available in case your house catches on fire.
3. You talk to neighbors and peope in surrounding towns to see if they would like to create a fire department.
4. You form a group of VOLUNTEER firefighters.
5. Your group doesn't have $400,000 to buy a fire truck and another $300,000 to build a station house.
6. You offer fire protection to anybody who pays your group $100 per year for a tag to put on their mailbox proving they paid for fire protection.
7. You use the $100 per year from all the people who paid it to buy a fire truck, build a station house and train the VOLUNTEER firefighters to minimize the possibility of their dying while fighting a fire.
8. Since it costs you thousands of dollars in wear and tear on your fire truck and equipment to put out a fire, not to mention the danger to the lives of the firefighters, you don't put out the fires of people who didn't help pay for the equipment and training of the firefighters.

Without funding for equipment, there is no fire department, volunteer or otherwise.

Which do you prefer, a non-existent fire department that treats everybody the same by letting their house burn down, are an actual fire department that puts out the fires of people who helped pay for the firefighting equipment and training?

[houeto]

Without a funding source to purchase equipment, there is no fire department, volunteer or otherwise.

Any funding system that allows for equipped firefighters to stand and watch a neighbors place burn is for the birds.

[listenhillary]

Birds build a new nest. Life goes on.