Dont pay for fire service, watch your house burn

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

The decision was made by the homeowner.

He was the one who decided his pets weren't worth paying for fire protection.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Brilliant. Let the fire spread to a neighbor's yard and end up paying far more than the costs of putting out the fire in order to deal with a homeless family.

Fee-for-service firefighting is just retarded, but if you're going to have it then you simply bill the cost of putting out the fire to people who didn't pay and you allow the bill to serve as a tax lien against the property that takes precedence over all mortgages.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

I'm sure you don't. But fire trucks cost money, and firefighters need to be paid. We don't live in some Star Trek fantasy land where everything of value can be pulled from a magic machine powered by a perpetual energy source. Scarcity is a factor, and you do still have to pay to play.

And then you'd be fired for general douchebaggery. But I'm sure that's nothing new to you.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

And if the bill is never settled? And if all of his neighbors start following his example? The fire department and then the taxpayers should just take it in the ass?

If you want to talk about rights, there is no inherent right to valuable goods and services, let alone without compensation.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

So you won't mind when your locality starts charging for garbage tags?
or you just gonna let it pile up in the back alley?

Considering that FD's are equipped and paid for from fed and state funds as well, where the fuck does the county get off charging a tax on something you've already been taxed for?

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

My trash is collected by a private company, and they don't do it out of the goodness in their hearts.

Are you sure that was the case in this instance? I'm guessing $75 a household isn't going to pay for building a FD from scratch. At most that would partially offset the cost of upkeep and salary.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

This guy apparently lived in the county, outside the city fire coverage area. He took a chance.

Around here, there are county fire departments, but they're often staffed by volunteers and their response time is...lacking, many times.

Because of that, if I ever buy some rural land around here, I plan on buying one of these so I can at least get started on putting the fire out before the volunteers arrive.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Also in the news - there is the case of a bystander who spotted a child and her abductor. The bystander, without asking for compensation, chased down the kidnapper and helped the child escape.

Said bystander is now regarded as a hero.

The firefighters, by contrast, are not.

There is a reason why society places high regard for the selfless, while the mercenary is seldom so much as invited for dinner.

(here is the link to the news story)

http://crime.about.com/b/2010/10/06/amber-alert-works-girl-rescued.htm

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

There are enough differences between the two situations to render your comparison pointless.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

And as soon as you can point out the mercenaries in this situation, you can advance that argument with a straight face.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Not to mention the cost of the fire truck. I don't know ..., they'd be cutting it close.

$265K starting out

I guess a used on wouldn't cost too much - $34K

the cost of a fire station - $840K

average annual salary for one firefighter - $48K

So, let's say they started off with 2 firefighters - the first year to operate would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars.

$75 from every household in Obion County - 13,182 = $988,650.

Sorry, it's the accountant in me.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Do you believe the child's rescuer would have been justified for asking for payment in advance before rescuing the child?

Or would he be justified in doing so only if he were a police officer?

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Today society regards the child's rescuer as a hero.

The firefighters are not.

I do not believe that is due to the slow creep of socialism. It is due to something else. Why do you think that is?

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

I'll go ya one further and suggest the money about covers the administration of collecting the money. If they're going to have the fee, why make it separate at all?

Garbage pickup was once an inclusive municipal service here... bag fees seemed like double dipping until the recycling became more comprehensive

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Dipshits all around. There is enough stupidity in this situation to cover the whole county.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Only those residents of Obion County that do NOT live in one of the towns have to pay the $75, which changes the results of your calculations.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Massive douchbaggery move to not help out when they were already at his property apparently.

Sure you can say they were technically in the right, just wait until the day though when someone who has paid the fee is accidentally left off the list and refused help.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Lots of things changes the results of my calculations - including the cost of the building and those renovations which would take up the bulk of the money.

That is a very loose estimate, but still in the ball park.

I realize everyone likes to be exact around here, but ... come on.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

There's a difference between "loose estimate" and being wrong by more than double.

Fewer than half of the residents of Obion County live in the unincorporated part of the county.

It's hardly demanding that you be "exact" to expect you to at least take the basics into account.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

In his place, I wouldn't ask for it. But whether or not we believe he's justified is irrelevant.

You're ignoring the fact that police officers are subject to an employment contract that entitles them to compensation. They're not demanding a reward for being a hero, but expecting the paycheck they were promised for doing their job every day. There is an obligation to pay them, independent of all other considerations.

Who the hell is saying that? I believe you pulled that directly from your ass.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

There is more to this story than what was printed. I somehow doubt Gene Cranick is his town's George Bailey or that he simply "forgot" to pay the fee. Especially given that he is bemoaning inadequate insurance as well. And that the fire was a trash fire that the grandson was burning that "got out of control."

So either the grandson had no business burning trash unsupervised or weather/fire conditions were such that no one had any business burning trash that day.

My gut impulse is that they could've come up with a bill to charge him that would cover his not paying. But collecting could be a challenge. Or they could've arranged for him to sign the house over to them. He gets to keep his belongings and can continue staying there, renting the place, although who knows what the cost of repairs would've been or if this guy was someone you'd want as a renter.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Oh, and as far as the animals dying, if this was a trash fire that got out of control, then there should've been plenty of time to get the animals out if they were really a priority. Sounds like another instance of the homeowner's negligence. And if, by the time the fire crews arrived, it was too dangerous for someone to rescue the animals, then why would you expect a fireman to risk their life trying to save a cat that was in danger because of its owner's stupidity and negligence?

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

No, their options are either providing the service to him for free, or condemning themselves to "heartless bastard" status for life.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

Although the concept of asking a fee for services is indeed an acceptable situation, the aspects of firefighters standing and watching the property burn to the ground goes against the very code of a firefighter and yes indeed falls into the idea of merc services. Poor judgement all around is what I see but greed rears it's ugly head in this as well.

Re: Dont pay for fire service, watch your hosue burn

It's not greed to let some chintzy bastard take food off of your family's plate because he expects to receive an expensive, skill-intensive service for free.