Firefighters watch man's garage go up in flames

[Gonz]

Seems I've heard americans talk constantly about getting the gov't to let them manage their own affaires. Here they've done it. Gov't's finally out of their pocket. And still I hear the bitching.

Because this is precisely what government is intended to do. Suppose the fire got out of hand & spread. Whose fault would it be? The guy who didn't pay his extortion bill (but probably paid his taxes) or the firefighters who had a civil obligation to protect the community & failed?

 

[Inkara1]

Seems like they should have sent out a "friendly" reminder that he "owed" his "dues." When the mob wants to be paid for "protection," you definitely know about it.

 

[Professur]

Star, you missed the point. The point was that people that put their lives on the line for others would prefer to be appreciated than taken advantage of. You don't get to buy insurance for an accident after it happens.


Gonz, they were on site ... to protect against that very occurence. His neighbours on either side had paid their fees, and were protected.

Inky .... all of his neighbours were paid up. How'd they find out?

 

[Starya]

Prof, you also seem to be missing my the point. Conscience.

Sure, being appreciated for your effort is nice. Getting paid is also nice. Standing by, watching someone lose his posessions while you have the ability to do something about it? That's just something you don't do.

 

[Inkara1]

Inky .... all of his neighbours were paid up. How'd they find out?

That's what I'd like to know. A "friendly" letter? Or "Tiny," the 7'6" 450 lb. thug?

 

[Professur]

Prof, you also seem to be missing my the point. Conscience.

Sure, being appreciated for your effort is nice. Getting paid is also nice. Standing by, watching someone lose his posessions while you have the ability to do something about it? That's just something you don't do.

It's also business as usual. Every day, patients are turned away because they can't afford medicine, surgery, etc. If a store keeper gave food away to every bleeding heart that came into his store with a sob story, who'd feed the shop keeper? As a hotel manager, I turned people away who just wanted somewhere to warm up on a cold winter night. Conscience is a liability in business. And these guys are in the business of fighting fires ... but not for free.

And let's be realistic. He lost his garage. Not his house. He was hardly left with nothing but the clothes on his back, was he?

 

[mondomondo]

Prof, you also seem to be missing my the point. Conscience.

Sure, being appreciated for your effort is nice. Getting paid is also nice. Standing by, watching someone lose his posessions while you have the ability to do something about it? That's just something you don't do.

Welcome to America, Starya. This is nothing new.

That said, they could have put out the fire and sent the guy a bill. With an arrangement like this, what's to say that such a fire department couldn't set a fire on the property of someone who refuses to pay the "membership fee", and then refuse to extinguish it when it burns. Mafia, anyone?

 

[mondomondo]

And let's be realistic. He lost his garage. Not his house. He was hardly left with nothing but the clothes on his back, was he?

Maybe if his boostraps weren't burned up, he could pull himself up by those.

Certain things in this world should not come with a price tag.

 

[chcr]

And let's be realistic. He lost his garage. Not his house. He was hardly left with nothing but the clothes on his back, was he?

I wondered if anyone else had noticed that (in their self-righteous indignation).

 

[tonksy]

Maybe if his boostraps weren't burned up, he could pull himself up by those.

Certain things in this world should not come with a price tag.

In this case it seems that the inhabitants of this community decided it did. They weren't paying for it through their taxes so it had to be paid for outside of taxes
It just goes to show that, yes, you can cut taxes....but you'll end up paying for things somehow.

 

[catocom]

To have insurance of any kind, you have to pay the premiums. That just
the way it works.
So did they have house ins.? ... car ins.?
I think these firemen, need to change their title from "volunteer" to "membership" though.

 

[Gonz]

It just goes to show that, yes, you can cut taxes....but you'll end up paying for things somehow.

I'd rather pay my money to a money grubbing for-profit hates blacks & Jews & the poor company than to a bunch of money grubbing fot-personal-profit hates blacks & Jews & the poor government officials who can't do basic mathematics so they need more & more & more & more.

Fire protection is much like police protection...part of the system.

 

[tonksy]

I'm not saying it's right or it's wrong...just that these folks decided to have to pay for fire fighters out of pocket instead of through taxes. One way or the other it needs to get paid for.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Do you expect a passing security guard to stop a break in if you're not paying his company? Of course not.

Big difference between a volunteer fire fighter and a paid employee of a company.

Thank God for volunteer fire fighters. Trust me.

 

[PT]

It sounds like a motherfucker, I know. But I have to defend the firefighters here too. It really happens alot more often than you think. First of all, firemen aren't just paid by taxes, they are usually paid by special taxes. Taxes that have to be voted on and approved. Taxes that are on a county level, not city, most cities have paid firefighters and you pay them from the city taxes. However, the rural taxpayers won't approve the additional taxes, so they start what are called Fire Districts. To say that he wasn't informed tells me he moved into an area and had little or no contact with his neighbors, nor did he pay any attention to the most likely numerous signs around that advertised his fire district.
As the article stated, they will step in and help when lives are at risk, or even if the home is obviously all the poor person has. What really gripes thier asses is when rich city boy moves in, buys a 300k house, and won't pay his fuckin $10 a month in dues.

 

[greenfreak]

No, these guys are not volunteers. They are employees of a paid fire system.

Yes, in order to train them, provide for the proper equipment, and pay their employees, they have to get money.

Yes, it's a stupid system that makes you pay your "fire dues" seperately on a "membership system".

You can make all kinds of assumptions on why this guy didn't pay.

But you know what? Given the current system, it doesn't take much to bill him later for their efforts and perhaps a "fee" for nonpayment of previous dues. To stand there and do nothing and watch a fire blaze gives the term "firefighter" a bad name. What do they do in the cases where there is a life in danger? Why two seperate policies? Because you're in the business of making money more than the business of saving lives and property?

It sounds like no one here has this kind of system where you have to be a "member" to have the privilege of a fire department putting your house out when it goes up in flames. It also sounds like the non-membership system works just fine. At least you don't need to decide on site whether you're going to help someone or just watch their property burn.

Bottom line, the just system flat-out sucks. I would be ashamed to work for that kind of system. New York gets flak for being uncaring but you know what? As of 2004, 70% of all Fire Departments were volunteers. Volunteeers. Over 350,000 qualified, educated men and women who do that job for free. So don't give me that "oh we should feel sorry for them because it's a business" shit. It shouldn't be a business in the first place. But if it has to be, don't taint it with this kind of selfish, uncaring behavior.

 

[HomeLAN]

But you know what? Given the current system, it doesn't take much to bill him later for their efforts and perhaps a "fee" for nonpayment of previous dues. To stand there and do nothing and watch a fire blaze gives the term "firefighter" a bad name. What do they do in the cases where there is a life in danger? Why two seperate policies?

Seems to me if they were really concerned about the payments, they'd be putting notices in with new home-owners kits - through realtors, welcome wagons, what-have-you. To say, "oops, too bad" while someone's dwelling is on fire is a bit much.

Yes, you have a responsibility as a home-owner to know how your area works, but you also have a responsibility as a firefighter to put out structure fires.

 

[catocom]

What I'm still trying to figure out is, ...
If they weren't going to put out the fire, why did they go out there at all?
Just to see if someone needed pulling out of a fire?

 

[Luis G]

What I'm still trying to figure out is, ...
If they weren't going to put out the fire, why did they go out there at all?
Just to see if someone needed pulling out of a fire?

I assume they were there just in case the fired spread to surrounding houses (who paid their fees).

 

[PT]

Volunteer, huh? So people just give them fire trucks? They just give them oxygen tanks and heat sensors and protective suits too? All that costs money, and if they didn't enforce the rule, then you can be damn sure that everyone would simply wait for the fire to happen before they paid a red cent.