Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Unpaid Fee

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Did Buster and Saden switch accounts in this thread? Seriously I'm confused. :cheeky-sm

At the end of the day we're talking about a measly $75. They seriously let someone's house burn down over $75? As a society you've gotta just ask WTF are we doing?

What's next? Police not responding if you haven't paid a fee?

You caught us. We had a detailed plot to overthrow your sanity and when you step down, we were going to hijack your profits and redistribute the wealth to all active members of the WP.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Your problem is you actually think this is over $75. Its about them providing a service to another county they don't normally service for a fee. I sell Ins. and I guess next time when our customer lets his homeowners lapse and they have a fire 6 months down the road we should still pay the claim. You know in good faith to keep the companies name in good standing. Maybe its time for people to take RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM SELF. I feel bad for the guy but he even admitted that he thought they would still provide service if he did not pay the $75. That tells me he figured why pay the $75 when I can just pay it if something happens. I guess he was wrong.

I don't think insurance and protecting in advance is quite the same. One is arguable, and can be resolved through a series of grievances; the other has an immediacy about it that can't be repaired retroactively.

I understand your point, but think that the comparison is not 100% valid

[Monkeydad]

Yeah, insurance is a product you can shop for and choose your coverages and rates.

Emergency services are not a matter of choice. They're also not a for-profit business like insurance. There's an expectation of them being available when needed.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Buster

You caught us. We had a detailed plot to overthrow your sanity and when you step down, we were going to hijack your profits and redistribute the wealth to all active members of the WP.

Profits and wealth...

[chica-alisha]

I think it's unbelievable that they let someone lose everything and let 3 dogs and a cat burn to death over $75. They took an oath...now they need to do their job-politics or not. What a disgrace.

Firefighters Creed

When I'm called to duty God, Wherever flames may rage
Give me strength to save a life, Whatever be it's age.

Help me to embrace a little child Before it is to late.

Or save an older person from The horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert To hear the weakest shout

And quickly and efficiently To put the fire out

I want to fill my calling and To give the best in me

To guard my neighbor and Protect his property

And if according to your will I have to lose my life

Bless with your protecting hand My children and my wife.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Profits and wealth...

We saw your house! :cheeky-sm

[saden1]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

It's just not necessarily consistent with your history

Clearly not. If a town wants to run its government that way, more power to them. If I lived there though I would like to see the Mayor, Fire Chief, every fire fighter at the scene, dispatchers, and whoever thought this was good policy get shitcanned or at the very least get to taste baseball bat woodchips.

It's absurd policy...glad I don't live there.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by saden1

Clearly not. If a town wants to run its government that way, more power to them. If I lived there though I would like to see the Mayor, Fire Chief, every fire fighter at the scene, dispatchers, and whoever thought this was good policy get shitcanned or at the very least get to taste baseball bat woodchips.

It's absurd policy...glad I don't live there.

I don't think very many people have read the article. The county which had the fire does not even have a fire department. They rely on another county for fire services and thats why they must pay for the service. The one county has no way of taxing the people of another county so they must charge a fee.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Buster

We saw your house! :cheeky-sm

Profits and wealth aren't coming from this site, that's all I'm sayin

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Your problem is you actually think this is over $75. Its about them providing a service to another county they don't normally service for a fee. I sell Ins. and I guess next time when our customer lets his homeowners lapse and they have a fire 6 months down the road we should still pay the claim. You know in good faith to keep the companies name in good standing. Maybe its time for people to take RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM SELF. I feel bad for the guy but he even admitted that he thought they would still provide service if he did not pay the $75. That tells me he figured why pay the $75 when I can just pay it if something happens. I guess he was wrong.

My problem? My problem is a fire department that doesn't put out fires. My problem is a fire department that puts other people at risk by letting a fire burn. They didn't even show up when a fire was reported. Who does that? At the very least they should have went there to make sure the fire wasn't going to blow anything up.

This is a public service, not the transmission in your car or the mortgage on your house. The citizens should have never been put in this position where they had to pay directly for the service to begin with. God forbid anyone ever forgets to pay a bill.

What if someone looses the paper work, an event thats not to uncommon when it comes to bureaucracy. I still have a collection agency calling me to collect on a surgery in 2009 that was completely paid off. Everytime I talk to them they find out that out but then I get automated calls back from them 4 or 5 months later. Should I have to sort it out during a 911 call?

What the fire department did was reckless and stupid.

Plus the funny thing is that the fire department would have charged the victims an additional $500. I wonder if they have a credit card reader on the truck. If this is the tea parties vision of America then send them away. Let them start their own country.

Houses in Obion County, Tennessee that lie outside city limits do not automatically receive fire protection. “South Fulton; Kenton and Union City allow their departments to respond outside the city limits by way of a Subscription Service which charges a $75 yearly fee to receive fire protection. After they respond to a “members” fire, the member is billed $500 for the response,” said Kelly Edmison – the fire chief – in a letter posted on the Union City Fire Department website. It would seem, however, that even when you do pay the fee and firefighters are present your house can still be burnt to a crisp. Check out this video of the Fulton Fire Department tackling a structure fire back in 2008. One wonders whether RV’ers passing through Tennessee would suffer a similar fate if their rig caught fire and they hadn’t paid the fee?

[Chico23231]

^Great points

I dont get it, these people are your neighbors. Really gets me pissed how petty these people were...i think the story is telling of where this country is

[chica-alisha]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I don't think very many people have read the article. The county which had the fire does not even have a fire department. They rely on another county for fire services and thats why they must pay for the service. The one county has no way of taxing the people of another county so they must charge a fee.

I've read a lot of articles on this-it's not a matter of taxes or a missed payment of a fee...it's a matter of human decency. I couldn't imagine that if I fell behind on my city taxes or forgot to pay something that the city would just tell me I was SOL...or some other stupid shit like that. In this economy-people are struggling...it doesn't mean they have to stand and watch their pets burn to death and lose everything they own in this entire world over some political BS.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by chica-alisha

I've read a lot of articles on this-it's not a matter of taxes or a missed payment of a fee...it's a matter of human decency. I couldn't imagine that if I fell behind on my city taxes or forgot to pay something that the city would just tell me I was SOL...or some other stupid shit like that. In this economy-people are struggling...it doesn't mean they have to stand and watch their pets burn to death and lose everything they own in this entire world over some political BS.

So why should anyone ever pay the fee. The guy has changed his story from the clip below to forgetting.

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," the hapless homeowner told reporters.

This sounds like a person who thought why pay the fee if they will still respond to a fire. For the record I could not sit back and watch someone's house burn no matter what happened but I understand why they did.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I don't think very many people have read the article. The county which had the fire does not even have a fire department. They rely on another county for fire services and thats why they must pay for the service. The one county has no way of taxing the people of another county so they must charge a fee.

I read it, I understand it (city within the county provides fire protection to the subscribers in surrounding county areas), I don't care for their actions regardless of whether they were contracted or not. Were fire fighters within their rights not to put out the fire? Absolutely. Is it a good policy? Absolutely not.

I rather like my socialist fire department...if hillbillies in Tennessee don't that's their business.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by firstdown

So why should anyone ever pay the fee. The guy has changed his story from the clip below to forgetting.

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," the hapless homeowner told reporters.

This sounds like a person who thought why pay the fee if they will still respond to a fire. For the record I could not sit back and watch someone's house burn no matter what happened but I understand why they did.

I don't see it as he's changing his story. He's saying, in my opinion, that he basically can't believe that even though he forgot they still wouldn't put out the fire.