Quote :

"A woman claims she lost her home, her three dogs and her cat because firefighters refused to help. Tonight, firefighters in South Fulton, Tennessee defend their decision. They say they refused to put out the flames because the homeowner forgot to pay an annual fee of $75. The owner called 911 to report the fire last week. When crews got there they did not put any water on her burning house but did protect the home nearby. That person paid the annual fire protection fee. Tonight the homeowner admits she forgot to pay but says she begged for help and even offered to pay the money on the spot. The president of an association representing firefighters say their decision to let the home burn was "incredibly irresponsible." South Fulton's mayor says the department can't let homeowners pay the fee on the spot because then no one would pay the fee unless their house caught fire."

http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/story/Tennessee-Firefighters-Let-Fire-Destroy-Home/N18MDSY9nkypmjveGWznDg.cspx


----Damn

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:49 PM. Reason : link]

10/6/2010 12:28:37 PM

the lesson is

pay your fair share

10/6/2010 12:29:03 PM

lol @ last sentence

10/6/2010 12:29:48 PM

Lesson is, they are letting a house burn over $75 dollars.

10/6/2010 12:29:57 PM

Calm down, liberal pussies.

There is nothing wrong here.

Also, [old] (http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=603031)

10/6/2010 12:30:41 PM

she chose not to participate in the fire protection insurance system

10/6/2010 12:30:57 PM

she didnt pay for the service

she didnt get the service

10/6/2010 12:31:08 PM

I hope lafta was unhurt.

10/6/2010 12:32:26 PM

But firefighting is a socialist program.

10/6/2010 12:33:30 PM

they could at least have a policy that makes her owe like $5000 for the water spraying or something

10/6/2010 12:34:30 PM

eh, his house wasn't within the fire district. though the fire department offered to extend their services for a small fee. he didn't pay the fee, he doesn't get the service.

pretty simple.

10/6/2010 12:34:38 PM

1.) fire protection should be mandatory and part of your city/county/community/whatever taxes...it's in the best interest of everyone (zomgsocialism!) and, unfortunately, firefighters like to get paid (why they don't risk their lives on a regular basis for free is beyond me)

2.) i feel bad for the pets...i feel bad for the woman, too, but pilgrimshoes is right: she didnt pay for the service, she didnt get the service

10/6/2010 12:35:44 PM

They'll remember to pay their fees in the future.

The firefighters did nothing wrong at all.

10/6/2010 12:36:22 PM

I like how they sprayed the yard next to them when it caught on fire but stopped once it was out.

10/6/2010 12:37:19 PM

Sounds like an odd way to do firefighting.

Quote :

"South Fulton's mayor says the department can't let homeowners pay the fee on the spot because then no one would pay the fee unless their house caught fire."

You can't just have a higher fee, like 10x the normal rate, for that?

10/6/2010 12:39:00 PM

10/6/2010 12:39:42 PM

^^ has flaws

is there a 1 in 10 chance of your house burning down this year?

nah

then it's still cheaper to pay for it on delivery of service

which, in turn

leaves the department unfunded

i'm assuming this is a volunteer department, or running like so. i havent read the link, SINCE SOMEONE DIDNT GIVE A LINK

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:41 PM. Reason : you dont pay for any other type of insurance when shit hits the fan. you do it before.]

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:42 PM. Reason : e]

10/6/2010 12:40:54 PM

HEROES, THAT BUNCH.

10/6/2010 12:42:29 PM

It's a municipal fire department that offers its service to nearby unincorporated areas for a fee.
http://consumerist.com/2010/10/firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-ground.html

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:43 PM. Reason : one link.]

10/6/2010 12:42:57 PM

Quote :

"firefighters like to get paid (why they don't risk their lives on a regular basis for free is beyond me)"

Actually in counties like this one, most of them do risk their lives for free.

10/6/2010 12:44:30 PM

do they have a similar ambulance system

10/6/2010 12:44:30 PM

Quote :

"has flaws"

Okay, sell them a life time pass then for more. But don't let the house burn.

10/6/2010 12:45:26 PM

sounds expensive. can i finance my lifetime pass?

maybe like $75/year or something reasonable like that?

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:47 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2010 12:46:45 PM

You're coming up with alternatives after the fact.

Pointless.

And yes: do let the house burn. I feel terrible for the pets, but beyond that, absolutely nothing went wrong there.

10/6/2010 12:47:30 PM

You would think someone could design a better system that doesn't result in firefighters parked outside the street watching a house burn to the ground with pets inside.

10/6/2010 12:48:23 PM

They should have saved the animals. Charged her a 75$ fee and a late fee. then charge her for the water used and their time.

I can see how people try to avoid these fees but they are important.

10/6/2010 12:49:13 PM

You can't force homeowner participation in such a system, though.

10/6/2010 12:49:43 PM

They should have told the firefighters there was a baby inside.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:50 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2010 12:49:56 PM

Quote :

"South Fulton's mayor says the department can't let homeowners pay the fee on the spot because then no one would pay the fee unless their house caught fire."

Sounds like these firefighters would go around lighting fires if people were allowed to pay the fee on the spot.

10/6/2010 12:50:43 PM

Quote :

"The president of an association representing firefighters say their decision to let the home burn was "incredibly irresponsible.""

maybe the Leader of these particular firewatchers would have fired them if they had put out the fire, since it would have been contradicting their policy

10/6/2010 12:51:27 PM

ITT: Trolls trolling trolls

10/6/2010 12:51:32 PM

Quote :

"South Fulton's mayor says the department can't let homeowners pay the fee on the spot because then no one would pay the fee unless their house caught fire.""

Actually, yes they can. Just charge them $5000 or something ridiculous if the service is used without the fee being paid. Now you can choose $75 or $5000.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:54 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2010 12:53:00 PM

Pic of the neighbor's house.

10/6/2010 12:54:06 PM

This is clearly the outcome that we, as a society, should hope for

10/6/2010 12:55:12 PM

Quote :

"This is clearly the outcome that we, as a society, should hope for"

Society means work as a team and clearly this person didn't put forth her fair contribution.

10/6/2010 12:57:32 PM

This is an awful system.

10/6/2010 12:58:49 PM

But it works. Well enough, too. You can be sure this homeowner is either going to move out of the district, or never forget again to pay that fee.

10/6/2010 1:01:55 PM

This is an awful system.

And if they fucking stopped the fire I highly doubt that the news would spread like wildfire and that everyone would stop paying.

Shit is immoral, plain and simple.

These are bad human beings.



ESPECIALLY if they were in fact under the impression that the homeowner 'forgot'


[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:03 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2010 1:01:58 PM

^
Every part of your post is incorrect.
Please don't vote.

10/6/2010 1:03:22 PM

Interestingly enough, there are more sensible replies in this thread than on the one in TSB.

( ^agreed)

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:03 PM. Reason : k]

10/6/2010 1:03:23 PM

^^Every part of your post is incorrect.
Please don't vote.

10/6/2010 1:04:15 PM

by that argument, if you get sick and have to go to the hospital and have $40,000 surgery when you don't have insurance

you should be able to call an insurance company after the surgery, pay your $300 first month premium, and get the surgery paid for

shit don't work like that

10/6/2010 1:07:03 PM

^^^i was just about to post the same thing.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:13 PM. Reason : damn you guys are fast]

10/6/2010 1:07:08 PM

I would think the ideal solution would be to put the fire out and then send the dude a bill for the firefighter's labor + expenses. Especially since he said he would pay on the phone.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:09 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2010 1:08:53 PM

^

10/6/2010 1:09:59 PM

But in the same sense they don't refuse you because you don't have the insurance, you just owe the entire fucking thing.

10/6/2010 1:10:57 PM

but then everyone would do that, and there would be no funding

hence no fire department

hence no one to pay (or save the house)

^ true, but that's a human life, which is infinitely more important than a building and some cats

10/6/2010 1:11:51 PM

Quote :

"by that argument, if you get sick and have to go to the hospital and have $40,000 surgery"

"Cranick says he told the operator he would pay whatever is necessary to have the fire put out. "

If you offer to pay to full price, should they still say no surgery?

10/6/2010 1:12:29 PM

Firefighting is a "service"? I thought it was more like a moral obligation. I mean, you have water, you have the equipment to put it out. Why sit back and just watch as someone's home burn down? Go ahead and charge them later. Plaster a huge fee on them. But, to just let it burn down? Where's their hearts?

I mean, if you get in a car wreck, it doesn't matter if you have insurance or not, the police are gonna show up, the tow truck is still going to tow your car, and the ambulance is still gonna haul your poor butt to the hospital.

Also, if you have a heart attack on an airplane and there is a doctor there, he's NOT going to ask you if you've been paying your insurance before he performs any "services". It's his moral obligation to save your life.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:13 PM. Reason : ?]

10/6/2010 1:12:37 PM

Yep, exact same thing Joie.

And how many folks have $5k cash that they can hand out to the FD in an emergency when their house catches on fire. Or what, would they just accept a check? Haha, yea I can write a check for whatever you want, don't mean it will cash.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:16 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2010 1:12:57 PM