[rwfromkansas]

I am not a socialist.

But, one of the functions of government....one of the very few legitimate functions of government in the Constitution...is TO PROTECT us, not just those who can afford a membership fee.

I am sorry, but it smacks of failing to do that duty if they will not help an American citizen just because he isn't a member.

[listenhillary]

The fire department is not a government provided service in this area. They voted down a government tax based system in 2001. Maybe the Hispanics helped vote it down, I don't know.

[RS]

"But, one of the functions of government....one of the very few legitimate functions of government in the Constitution...is TO PROTECT us, not just those who can afford a membership fee. "

It was NOT a function in the early days - private fire insurance brigades were the norm, and you would afix a plaque to your building signifying which company you were covered by.

http://www.northeasttimes.com/2003/1030/antiques.html

Government Mission Creep

[KurtZ]

There has got to be more to the story. I seriously doubt that the fire dept. takes the time to go through the billing records before responding to each fire. Unless of course the community was small enough that it was a well known fact that this guy wasn't paying, in which case i would think somebody would have told him about the program.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

But, one of the functions of government....one of the very few legitimate functions of government in the Constitution...is TO PROTECT us, not just those who can afford a membership fee.

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?