i always try to throw a tenner into the boot whenever I see a boot drive. that said, most voluteer fire companies in CT get money fromthe town, state, etc., and respond on all calls. but I recognize that if people have the right to self-determination, than I have to respect choices that may puzzle me. I doubt that nobody in that area doesn’t know that if you donn’t pay your dues, that you dont’ get helped. and if you don’t insure your car and it gets totalled, the government isn’t going to step in and replace it for you.
the residents chose this method of providing fire services, and they are free to change it. but for now, it is what it is, and i’m sure everybody knows it. if you knowingly take a risk and it backfires, i might feel for you, but i certainly wouldn’t want to force you to change to meet my standards.
someone smarter than I said that if folks knew they could get srevice by not paying the $75, then only a fool would pay, but that if they knew that they WOULDN’T get service without paying, only a fool WOULDN’T pay.
I’m in TN. Not sure about this fire hall, but we don’t get a dime from anyone except the members of the community (very rural area) and once with the Federal grant. There are no cities or towns in our zone of responsibility. So, it’s the property owners who foot the lions share of the cost. We don’t keep records on who donates and who doesn’t. If your house catches on fire we’ll come squirt water on it. We get called out on all sorts of stuff, body searches, missing children, forest and brush fires, meth labs, etc. In fact, the reason why I became a member of the fire hall in the first place way back when was so I would have a key to the fire truck and know how to use it.