[bkopto]

a fire that broke out two blocks from his home, not long after the city had closed some of its firehouses to save money.

Probably set by one of the laid-off public servant "heroes".

I'm not in favor of any publicly-funded firefighters. There should only be volunteer forces or publicly-contracted fire service subject to a competitive-bidding process.

[Smokin' Joe]

I'm not in favor of any publicly-funded firefighters.

Where I grew up (MD), training and equipment were funded in part by a fire tax. With the exception of a couple of paramedics ( one up from EMT) and dispatch personnel, alll the firefighters were volunteer. It worked very well, and was far cheaper than paid departments.

I'm not sure how (if?) that has changed, but it worked well then.