Firemen watch house burn...

[beth119]

No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn - U.S. news - Life - msnbc.com



This breaks my heart.


Whats next? EMT's watching people die? Police officers watching a burglary?

[jenrose]

My first thought when I saw this was OMG how could they do that.......then I thought about it a while and I understand why the 'Had' to do it. If they fought the fire then others in the community would cause an outcry and stop paying the fine. The fire dept would end up not being able to afford to continue to fight the fires outside the city limits and would be in an even bigger budget crisis then I'm sure they probably already are. It's one of those danged if you do and danged if you don't situations. I feel for both sides.

I guess it would be like forgetting to pay your homeowners insurance and then getting mad that they wouldn't compensate you when your house burned down.

[motherofmolly]

it appears that the county does not have its own fire dept which is normally a volunteer dept that is maintained thru property taxes. in lew of paying probably that fee in the property tax, the city lets you have the option of paying a yearly fee. i see it like insurance, you didnt pay your fee and you didnt get covered. the city fire dept has no obligation to go out into the county to fight a fire especially since no lives (they wont consider an animal a life-im talking people) were at stake. i am sure this would of been different if the call came in as a person still inside the house.

now, i do think the county should put it to vote and make it mandatory. they should include the fee in your taxes and be done with it. then there is no if's and's or butt's.

and it isnt like the fire dept sat outside the house and said "nope you cant use my hose" ...the dispatcher told him "sorry they wont come".

[beth119]

They did eventually show...

"Firefighters did eventually show up, but only to fight the fire on the neighboring property, whose owner had paid the fee."

[sbp]

What a horrible predicament to be in!!!!

I can understand why they told him he couldn't pay the fee right then and there for them to come put out the fire, since then no one would ever pay for it, until they needed it... .but they could have some backup plan put in place for when a house does go up in flames. (maybe the fee plus a $x amount penalty for being called out to fight a fire at a home not covered by the fee.) Of course it'd have to be a fee high enough that people would still pay the annual fee and not just say 'I'll pay it if/when I need it!'

I'd be willing to bet though that after this fire and the news came out that the fire department had a sudden rise in their revenue from the $75 fees. I'm sure others didn't realize that the fire department means business and won't come fight a fire at an unpaid house.

[sbp]

And I'm glad that they did finally show up, even if it was to contain the fire from spreading to the neighboring houses.

My mom just had a fire in her garage last Friday (the garage is a complete loss) and as horrible as the fire was, the fire department did a great job in keeping the house from any damage beyond the melted siding on that garage side of the house.. especially considering that end of the house is where her propane tanks are. I can't even imagine what would have happened if our town had such a fee (and love her, but knowing my mom, she too would have forgotten to pay the fee) - she would have lost the garage (which was pretty much empty except for BIL's tools and lawn mower and such) AND the house as well.

[CW&M Mom]

I still want to know what would of happened if someone was stuck in the house that was burning.

Do they let the person die because they didn't pay the fee???

Why on earth are they just not adding it to everyone's property tax...

[loaslaen]

I've seen stories of firemen giving animals mouth-to-mouth to revive them. This kind of story makes those firemen look like jerks. I'm not an animal rights activist or anything, but 4 animals died in that fire, and that's sad. Also, a WHOLE home was lost and a neighbor's property was threatened. Come on...firemen out west put out brush fires and forest fires, but a person's home with all of their possessions and their PETS aren't worth saving....over $75!?!?! Good grief!

[loaslaen]

I guess it would be like forgetting to pay your homeowners insurance and then getting mad that they wouldn't compensate you when your house burned down.

No, it's nothing like that. Like beth said, "What if police and EMT acted like that?" It's nothing like homeowners insurance not paying/compensating. It's DENIAL OF SERVICE in the first place. It's like the EMT refusing to come to your home, not like your health insurance refusing to pay/compensate.

People in certain occupations pretty much have a DUTY to help when they can. A doctor on an airplane when someone needs medical attention. A cop on a break in a store when the place is getting robbed, etc. This is FIRE, and you don't play with fire. Fire spreads and can KILL. It also causes lots of damage to property and should be put under control and OUT ASAP.

Insurance covers the money involved in the AFTERMATH of a problem. The people that are responsible for PREVENTING a problem and HANDLING a problem such as these firefighters should just do their job and not focus on who paid/pays what, especially when lives are at stake.

[wrestlegirl]

I still want to know what would of happened if someone was stuck in the house that was burning.

Do they let the person die because they didn't pay the fee???

Considering the homeowners lost three dogs and a cat in the fire.....yeah, I'm inclined to think these jackwagons claiming to be firefighters would have let the person die. Those poor animals had nothing to do with the stupid $75. Public servants my a$$.

My father and grandfather are retired firefighters, neither of whom would have ever stood by while a house burned whether any living creature was inside or not.