[Chode]

none of the volunteer forces here charge you anything, not a penny...

[drjimmy]

none of the volunteer forces here charge you anything, not a penny...

Who pays for the fire station? The fire trucks and the fuel that runs them? The helmets, turnout gear and air packs the firefighters wear? None of that comes free. Others have pointed out the facts of this story, but for those who continue to misstate the reality:
--This is a new incident that just happened albeit very similar to what took place last year.
--The firefighters showed up to ensure life safety and that no structures that had paid the subscription fee were affected.
--The city that pays for the trucks, turnout gear, etc., decided not to stick its taxpayers with the costs of providing fire protection services to people who live outside the city and don't pay taxes. The city instead came up with the very reasonable idea of offering those services to people outside the city who pay an annual $75 subscription fee.
--The people in this incident, despite knowing what happened last year, didn't think they would ever have a fire, so they rolled the dice and decided to risk losing their trailer home by not paying the fee.
--These people also chose not to buy regular fire insurance so their losses are not covered, and putting out the fire then billing them would get the fire department squat.
--No one is being extorted or forced to pay anything, as clearly these people were free to make a choice and did.
--As a volunteer firefighter myself, I am very conflicted about this issue because I go into burning buildings without any thought about whose building it is. Yet I understand that "volunteer" doesn't mean free, and freeloading makes it harder to provide services for everyone else.

[2CAVTrooper]

If they dont charge anything, then how do they buy new equipment or even maintain the existing equipment?

Or are they a still a bucket brigade?