Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground

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[LyricFox]

Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground

OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to a local family tonight.

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html

[FierFlye]

*shakes head*

People don't want to pay taxes, yet they still want the government to give them services.

I'm sorry they lost their house. That's got to be one of the worst feelings ever. My worst fear is to come home and find my house missing.

[HeartShadow - Cutethulhu]

Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground

OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to a local family tonight.

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html

I think the situation is awful.

OTOH - you get what you pay for.  It's awful, but .. that money is what pays for firefighters, trucks, water ... if you're not willing to pay it, why SHOULD you get the service?

which is why public services should not be opt-in!

[Star]

I think the situation is awful.

OTOH - you get what you pay for.  It's awful, but .. that money is what pays for firefighters, trucks, water ... if you're not willing to pay it, why SHOULD you get the service?

::nods::  I was actually really surprised by the tone of the article--when I read about the fee, I expected something about the fee being unfair or whatever.  (Which--as you say, the money has to come from somewhere, whether it's a fee or out of taxes or whatever, but I could see some kind of argument that there needs to be a provision for those who are financially unable to pay or something, if a program addressing that isn't already in place.  Or an argument to stop making it an opt-in service.)  No...  The argument seemed to be that the firefighters should have put out the fire even though the fee hadn't been paid.

I feel very sorry that they lost their house.  To say that sucks is maybe the understatement of the century.  And not just the house, but the stuff in the house, and the memories that went with the house...  It's horrible.  But it sounds like they knew the rules--if you want fire department services, you have to pay the $75/year.  They elected not to pay the fee.  I don't know why they expected that the fire would be put out, having been told that they would not recieve fire services under those circumstances.  They want to know why an exception couldn't be made--well, if you do that then pretty soon no one sees any reason to pay the fee, since exceptions will be made anyway, and the money for the fire department dries up and goes away.  Change the system if it's not working properly, sure, but the smart way to do that seems to be to pay the fee for the year and then start gathering support for some other solution, rather than not participate and then complain when the county sticks to the rules it set.

[HeartShadow - Cutethulhu]

How much you want to bet these people also protest paying any taxes?

The only exception I might make is a fee when there's a fire and people haven't paid it - but then it should be something massive.  Something that's a massive kick in the ass.

Because people need to grow the hell up and pay their share.  *grumbles*

[skyth]

Follow up:

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/More-fallout-following-house-fire-104113489.html

[sailor_tech]

Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground

OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to a local family tonight.

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html

Technically it's not a local fire department.  The folks live in a county area that has no fire coverage. They are offered the option of paying a fee to the city next door to respond.

I'd be curious as to wether their home owner's policy would be discounted if they paid the fee, if so by how much.

[LyricFox]

Technically it's not a local fire department.  The folks live in a county area that has no fire coverage. They are offered the option of paying a fee to the city next door to respond.

I also have to wonder whether the county policy is going to be fiddled with.

I'd be curious as to wether their home owner's policy would be discounted if they paid the fee, if so by how much.

I was wondering much the same thing. I have a sneaky suspicion they're in for a fight with the insurance company.

[skyth]

I also have to wonder whether the county policy is going to be fiddled with.

According to the article I linked, they are trying to make the entire county fee-based now.

[Tana]

Wow, as a German, this is confusing the heck out of me. 

How can it be optional to pay for public and safety things like the fire department?
(And if it is, how on earth can somebody be so short sighted to "save" that money, look what good it done.)

OK, I go and get a coffee now and work through that culture shock. 

[sailor_tech]

Wow, as a German, this is confusing the heck out of me. 

How can it be optional to pay for public and safety things like the fire department?
(And if it is, how on earth can somebody be so short sighted to "save" that money, look what good it done.)

OK, I go and get a coffee now and work through that culture shock. 

I suspect you don't internalize how big the US is.

In most of the US, it is Not optional. The folks in the county are actually lucky that they have the option to pay for another city to provide them with fire protection services.

In most of the country they'd have no fire protection services. The county would be geographically to large and population density to small support a fire department that could effectively protect the buildings in the county.

Think of it this way. Does Luxembourg have it's own hostage rescue commandos (GSG-9 equivilent)? No, if they needed them, they'd have to get them from Germany or I guess give in to the hostage takers. On a one time or rare basis, Germany would be happy to help. But if there was a hostage situation every week, Germany would start wondering why the German tax payer was paying for the men and training and getting nothing back from the Duchy.

[RandallS]

Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground

OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to a local family tonight.

Something similar happened in San Antonio many years ago with a much different ending. The city had just annexed a bunch of land. Three different fire departments showed up (the city, one suburb, and one volunteer) but no one fought the fire as the records were not clear yet on whose jurisdiction the house was now in. No departments insurance covered fighting fires outside their jurisdiction, so no unit on the scene would risk actually fighting the fire. The house burned to the ground. It turned out the house was in the city's newly annexed territory. The city got sued and settled for quite a bit of money as I recall. The city also had to change its insurance to cover any fire that happened in the county if there was any chance it might be in city territory regardless of whether it actually turned out to be on careful checking of the records and the fire department was ordered to put out fires if their was any chance at all they were in the city.

[Tana]

I see, I know that the US is big.

But with here a lot of even little villages having a volunteer fire brigade, I guess it didnt crossed my mind, that a whole county wouldnt have one.

But with extensive areas I see the problem, of course.

[Corvus Calling - GirlRugger]

I suspect you don't internalize how big the US is.

In most of the US, it is Not optional. The folks in the county are actually lucky that they have the option to pay for another city to provide them with fire protection services.

In most of the country they'd have no fire protection services. The county would be geographically to large and population density to small support a fire department that could effectively protect the buildings in the county.

Think of it this way. Does Luxembourg have it's own hostage rescue commandos (GSG-9 equivilent)? No, if they needed them, they'd have to get them from Germany or I guess give in to the hostage takers. On a one time or rare basis, Germany would be happy to help. But if there was a hostage situation every week, Germany would start wondering why the German tax payer was paying for the men and training and getting nothing back from the Duchy.

Here is my problem with this. Canada is a larger country than the US. With more rural areas to protect, yet these rural areas all have their own fire departments. I my self live very far into the country. The Nearest gas station or supermarket is 45 minutes away, and yet there are 2 small fire departments with in 10 km away and another one 20 km away. These are all run by Volunteer firemen ,who live within 5-10 km of the fire station and can be dispatched at a moments notice. I do not pay any special fees, and if the fire get to large for more that 4 trucks to handle, the larger departments are called in and again I do not have to pay any special fee. This is the case all over the country. Access to a local fire department is my rite as a citizen, just like a public school system and free health care. I don't think it is the size of the area that is the problem. I think that the system is broken.

[Star]

I do not pay any special fees, and if the fire get to large for more that 4 trucks to handle, the larger departments are called in and again I do not have to pay any special fee.

Don't you? 

Who bought the fire trucks?  Who pays for their maintenance and repair?  Who pays for the water used to put out the fire?  Who built the fire stations and pays for their upkeep?  Who organized the volunteers and makes sure that they are where they need to be when they need to be there?

I don't (to my knowledge) pay a special fee either, but that doesn't mean I don't pay for it.  I think around here the fire departments do engage in some fundraising--but my understanding is that they are also funded through taxes.  (As, by the way, I'm sure your free health care and public education are.)  In order to have enough money from the taxes to support the department, you have to either have plenty of people living in the area the department is protecting who can all pay a little bit, or if you only have a few people then they have to be willing to pay higher taxes.  I've noticed that a lot of my fellow Americans don't seem to like paying higher taxes, even when those taxes will help provide things that they need (like fire protection).  That's the problem--too few people in one area to support the department on relatively low taxes.

That said...

I think that the system is broken.

...I can't argue with this part too much.

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