This.
Also if it was far enough out from the responding FD, it's entirely possible that the structure was fully involved and not salvageable anyway.
County should charge this fee to all unincorporated residents, then contract the firefighting out to the city.
I actually read the article, so for anyone that didn't, here are the important points you missed:
- The city FD that refused to put the fire out is not the same as the town of residence of the person whose house burned down
- There were no people inside
- Fire coverage is offered as an annual fee, as a courtesy by the city to the town residents
- The guy's pets died in the fire
Of all of that, I agree with the FF response, other than letting the animals burn. There's not enough in the story to know whether the animals were dead before they even made it out there, though.
This town has no fire coverage. The neighboring city offers it for a fee. The resident did not take them up on that offer. The resident could be furious at his town for not offering fire coverage, but last I checked your neighboring city has no responsibility to cut you in on its services that its taxpayers fund.
The resident just had to pay a $75 fee for coverage. Shit, that's a steal. I'm willing to bet that more than $75 of my annual property taxes go to my city's FD every year.
I do fault the FD if they would not accept reimbursement of their actual costs to put the fire out, but the story doesn't provide enough facts to discern that. It says the resident offered $75 and was denied, but nothing about full reimbursement.
Please read the OP, the COUNTY voted NOT to etablish its own fire service. The fire Department belonged to a CITY nearby whose residents voted TO establish a fire service.
The county is outside the city's jurisdiction. The only people that this guy should be blaming is his fellow county voters.
The county should have been paying $$$ to the fire department and collecting the $$$ through taxes.
I don't think there should be an option if you live anywhere in this country for "pay your own fire protection a la cart", it should 100% always be provided by the government. And, it should 100% always be paid for by taxes.
The county should have been paying $$$ to the fire department and collecting the $$$ through taxes.
I don't think there should be an option if you live anywhere in this country for "pay your own fire protection a la cart", it should 100% always be provided by the government. And, it should 100% always be paid for by taxes.
Blame the county that these rural homeowners live in for not providing any fire protection service to their citizens. And since it's these homeowner's that voted for their country government officials for the last 20 years, blame the homeowners themselves for not wanting to be taxed for fire protection. The neighboring town is being nice to even offer the service.
Which lives did they fail to protect and save?
I do.
My rant was a lot about what they are trying to do where I live, and make the fire department in to a seperate fee rather than using property taxes like they always have. (note for me, fire department covers several cities, and unincorporated areas, I'm in one of the unincorporated areas, and my property taxes go towards the fire department. One of the cities is trying to make it so that it's citizens pay a fee for the fire service rather than keeping it in the taxes ... it's essentially just a deceptive move to raise taxes))
When someone says their house is on fire there is a good chance that there may be a person inside. 3 dogs and a cat died in the fire that could have been saved. I see this as being no different than the two emts who let that woman die because they were on their lunch break.
Unbelievable. Humanity completely lost for $75. I thought fighting fires was also about saving and protecting lives. What they did was legal but not ethical.
I do.
My rant was a lot about what they are trying to do where I live, and make the fire department in to a seperate fee rather than using property taxes like they always have. (note for me, fire department covers several cities, and unincorporated areas, I'm in one of the unincorporated areas, and my property taxes go towards the fire department. One of the cities is trying to make it so that it's citizens pay a fee for the fire service rather than keeping it in the taxes ... it's essentially just a deceptive move to raise taxes))
When someone says their house is on fire there is a good chance that there may be a person inside. 3 dogs and a cat died in the fire that could have been saved. I see this as being no different than the two emts who let that woman die because they were on their lunch break.
When someone says their house is on fire there is a good chance that there may be a person inside. 3 dogs and a cat died in the fire that could have been saved. I see this as being no different than the two emts who let that woman die because they were on their lunch break.
I have no problem with the outcome. Trying to pay the fee while the house is on fire is like trying to buy car insurance after the accident. The guy gambled and he lost.
Somehow, I doubt this arrangement will continue. This example here is why true libertarianism (sic?) doesn't work in the real world. The conservatives have won this battle but they'll lose the war. That proposal to build a firehouse in the county will be accepted when it comes around again because losing your house over a measely $75 is not something anyone wants to go through. Yeah, insurance may give you the money for the house but it's the things in the house that makes it a home and those may be gone forever. Taxes will go up. Funny how the conservative people don't want to pay more for services until they need them. As I said many times before, the government should've just forced it on these fools.
This proposal was put out to create a COUNTY-WIDE fire department in Obion County.Except the problem is with the county and not the city. If someone is not willing to pay $75, what are the odds that the city isn't going to be able to collect on a non-city resident for thousands of dollars? Zero.
According to survey information, over 75% of all municipal fire department’s structure calls are rural. All fire departments in Obion County charge a $500.00 fee per call in rural areas, but collections are, less than 50% and the fire departments have no way of legally collecting the charge. Therefore, the service was provided at the expense of the municipal tax payer.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:This is an example of libertarianism working perfectly. His neighbor chose to pay the fee and they protected the neighbors house. This newly-homeless douchebag chose not to pay the fees associated with the safety that being part of a community provides and paid the price. It was his choice. He gambled and lost. Sounds like exactly the kind of place the world should be. Your whole argument is backwards.
I am not sure why most are reporting this like they showed up and didn't do anything.
Hate to break it to most here, but if my security system reports a burgulary or fire and my permit is expired...they are not sending anyone either.
America, where money gets in the way of compassion.
Read the article genius - they showed up and watched it burn.
This is completely boneheaded bullshit.
The whole concept of using a "fee" to pay for fire service. What the fvck is this, a lo cart shit.
Services like fire, police, library, parks should always and only be budgeted through taxes. Not fees. They should cover everybody. And, if people don't pay their property tax, then the land should be reposessed and sold at auction.
Adding stupid fees for shit like this just doesn't make sense. If they don't have enough money for their budget, then they need to raise taxes directly, not create a new one. Or, perhaps they could simply streamline their expenses and cut out some fat and actually work within a reasonable budget! seems like every frickin city/state/county is bloated all to hell!
Except the problem is with the county and not the city. If someone is not willing to pay $75, what are the odds that the city isn't going to be able to collect on a non-city resident for thousands of dollars? Zero.