Any SOB that would stand by and watch a persons home or garage burn down and do nothing is unfit to call themselves a Firefighter. They are nothing more than Mafia protection racket thieves.
This system sucks to begin with. The Community should establish a Fire Tax and everyone be required to pay for it in their taxes.
The man who refused to pay the protection racket is probably a cheap bastid, but the Fire Chief who would watch this mans property destroyed is no better.
If this is the kind of neighbors I had I would find a new place to live.
You are 100% correct.
Yeah. I'll stand over here with you Sarg. What you said.
I call them firefighters. They are working for a private organization and are not existing off government money. I wish my own area had one of these. A private police force as well. Would probably be run more efficiently as well
I must disagree.
I've lived in rural communities with volunteer fire departments, and they survive on donations & dues. You can't put out fires and then bill people, otherwise no one would pay up front--it's a lot like insurance--you can't not have insurance, and then offer to pay a premium if you ever get in an automobile accident; it just doesn't work that way. I don't see anyone up in arms when insurance companies refuse to pay benefits if people stop paying premiums, and this is the same type of system: you pay, you get fire protection.
In fact, it's capitalism writ large; I don't see a problem with it at all. Each person chooses whether or not he wants the service.
I find it difficult to believe that the man didn't know about the policy, but it's possible he didn't. I can say that in my town, the fire department sent out letters every couple of months asking for money and donations--it was really pretty hard to miss.
Exactly, we don't have a "system" that we would have to pay $1000 or better. You either pay your $20 a year or you don't, you takes your chances.
You think we in Missouri must be forced to pay for some idiot who won't pay his $20 a year to protect his house? Sounds like a democrat talking. Hmmm, I can have the government take care of it for $1000 a year or voluntarily pay $20 a year for volunteers and then bitch when my house burns down because I refused to pay the $20.
I'm still glad I live here. Very few here are begging for government involvement and higher taxes.
The man who refused to pay the protection racket is probably a cheap bastid, but the Fire Chief who would watch this mans property destroyed is no better.
BS. If they had extenguished the fire, how many others would decide they didn't need to pay the next time the dues we're due?
The community chose to have a volunteer FD, each citizen or home or business paying $5 a month for fire department service.
I agree it is a sad situation, but if a small town chooses to go that way, the guy should've either paid or not expected fire service.
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.