"LET ME GO ON RECORD SAYING, I don't feel sorry for this free-loading jerk.
"
You aren't very Christian then. Losing a home to fire is a much greater evil than not knowing you had a bill in an area you moved into. Even if he knew about the bill and chose not to risk it, I still feel very sorry for him. The punishment in no way fits the crime. I fully think the fire department should put things like that out and then bill him the full cost of their service. It would be substantially higher than annual dues and would still teach him a lesson. Sitting by while a man's house burned is one of the biggest jerk things I can possibly imagine.
People are forgetting, he didn't lose his home, according to the article he lost a garage and a vehicle. I'll have to read the article again but they could have saved his house and it may not have been mentioned in the desire to villify the fire department.
Still feel sorry for him?
Just kidding, but when you only know a part of the story, it is easy to come to wrong conclusions. We don't know the whole story here.
"Rural firefighters stood by and watched a fire destroy a garage and a vehicle because the property owner had not paid membership dues."
The Lord helps those who help themselves.