Why?
Because the homeowner made the call to NOT join and purchase the $500 service plan that guarantees they will fight the fire.
But in this case - even though there wsas no contract or agreement to fight the fire - Rural Metro did so.
Should they have fought the fire? Were they correct in billing the homeowners? Should they get paid? Will they get paid?
Your thoughts....
Now we need Obamafire, for those people to dumb to buy their own coverage.
The fee was only $75.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57338526/firefighters-watch-home-burn-owners-didnt-pay/
Why is the charge $20k, particularly if his home burned down? Sounds like poor performance. Are they trying to balance their balance sheet from socking it to this one guy?
I was under the impression that the fire departments were funded by state and local taxes. Its ludicrous to have to pay a $20K bill for firefighting services if their services are funded by by taxes. If there were no frire protection services in his particlar part of the woods and a private company provided these “services” I could maybe see how this happened but that fee is ridiculous. Its really blackmail of the worst sort. It would be like a physician turning to you and saying my fee for the heart transplant just went from 50K to 200k while asking you what you want to do in the middle of a heart attack. It just ain’t right. And why does EVERTHING have to be about money these day? I don’t think common sense is so common anymore.
Yea, I’d like to see the itemized cost on that $20k.
Private firefighters are under no obligation to show up and doing so hurts their ability to preimptively collect fees.
If they weren’t asked to fight the fire, then to me they are just asking for a voluntary payment. If they were free not to fight the fire, then the home owner should be free not to pay them.
This is one of the best observations I’ve seen on what went down....
Since when can a 3rd party obligate me for an expense?
Lets break this down.
Surprise FD responds (Paid for by taxes or some other means but no bill to homeowner)
Surprise FD may have called, or Rural Metro may have been listening to the scanner and invokes THEIR “mutual aid” agreement and Rural Metro shows up
Rural Metro does essentially the post fire monitoring and cleanup and sends home owner bill
See the disconnect here? The homeowner was not consulted or notified or asked for approval for the charge. So how can the Surprise FD obligate the homeowner to pay for a service that he did not request.
This doesn’t appear to be a case of the only/nearest fire protection is a pay/subscription service. But it does appear that there is something shady going on since the Rural Metro FD won’t/cant provide a copy of this mutual aid agreement, instead characterizing it as a gentleman’s “handshake agreement.
Personally I’d dare the Rural Metro company to sue me to collect, and then during discovery and depositions get to the bottom of these gentleman’s agreements.
Methinks that some of what Rural Metro collects finds it way back to the FD that “called them in”
In as much as a mechanic, fixing the problems in your auto without authorization....they did it for free.
Opinion = yes
Were they correct in billing the homeowners?
Opinion = yes
Should they get paid?
Opinion = yes
Will they get paid?
Probably not.
In response, he should sue the fire department for trespass and vandalism by water.
When I lived in the PHX area 25 years ago, a long-time resident wag told me the local alternate name for Rural-Metro was the “Rural-Metro Parking Lot Development Co.” R-M covered suburban parts of the PHX metro area, the largest/most well-known is Scottsdale.
And yes, you can fight city hall and win. I have done it.
If they home owner requested services, he’s liable for the bill.. if however they provided service without being asked, they can’t bill them for it... at least that’s the general rule of thumb when you get something you didn’t order.
Why?
Because the homeowner made the call to NOT join and purchase the $500 service plan that guarantees they will fight the fire.
Was there an individual mandate to purchase fire-fighting insurance?
Anyone who pays taxes, especially property taxes, has already paid for fire services...whether or not the services have been privatized or not
Privatization of Government Services is just Business Socialism...you end up paying more for the government than you were before...because now you have to pay for the profits of the private company handling the service
Fact is that Public/Private Partnerships....and Privatization...is just another form of Socialism
The homeowner should sue the company, and the local government....he has already paid for the service thru taxes
If the homeowner did not agree to pay to have them fight the fire he is not responsible for the bill. Usually these articles go the other way where we are supposed to be up in arms when a fire department refuses to fight a fire for someone who hasn’t paid. If the owner didn’t pay the yearly fee, and didn’t agree to pay them to fight the fire, he obviously did not want their services.