No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn

[CowboyDan]

IMO, If the owner ask them to put it out, they should have put it out and changed the home owner the full amount that it cost to put it out. Then put a lien against the property until the owner pays off the owned amount.

This way, the owners house is saved (if he wants it saved) and the service is paid for.

Or you just include it in taxes.................

 

[YosemiteSam]

Some things not brought up in this thread:

1. This isn't the first time he "forgot" to pay this fee. At least one other time he had a fire and they let him pay the fee the next day.

2. The fire started as a brush fire and he had at least two hours to get the pets out of the house.

3. He's had, from what I remember from the radio, 4 fires in the last couple of years at this location.

I'm on the fence on the FD's response. I just wanted to bring up a few facts that haven't been discussed.

None of those points have any merit.

 

[casmith07]

Some things not brought up in this thread:

1. This isn't the first time he "forgot" to pay this fee. At least one other time he had a fire and they let him pay the fee the next day.

2. The fire started as a brush fire and he had at least two hours to get the pets out of the house.

3. He's had, from what I remember from the radio, 4 fires in the last couple of years at this location.

I'm on the fence on the FD's response. I just wanted to bring up a few facts that haven't been discussed.

More evidence that he should have paid the $75 fee offered by the fire department in order to receive coverage. Ignorance to ordinances/statutes is not a defense, and especially not a cause for complaint.

They likely wouldn't recover a dime in court.

 

[casmith07]

Or you just include it in taxes.................

Problem with that is determining which municipality the taxes are paid to because of the rural areas...what if he decides to call a different fire department in a different jurisdiction?

 

[Yeagermeister]

Oh and another thing

The next day the mans sons punched the fire chief and broke his nose or jaw

 

[YosemiteSam]

Oh and another thing

The next day the mans sons punched the fire chief and broke his nose or jaw

Should have put out the fire!

 

[joseephuss]

Problem with that is determining which municipality the taxes are paid to because of the rural areas...what if he decides to call a different fire department in a different jurisdiction?

From what I understand, the 911 operator or the fire department usually figure out the jurisdiction before going out to the site. If for some reason a fire department does go outside of their jurisdiction, they are typically reimbursed their expenses.

 

[Go Big D!]

This has happened in my area before. I'm a firefighter with a city department so we don't have to worry about this happening to us. But we have a rural dept in the area that handles the area outside the city limits.

I was talking to my Chief about this and joked that this wouldn't happen here because we fight with rural all the time who gets what fire. He told me many years ago this happened here as well to a guy's barn.

As I firefighter I just can't imagine standing there and watching a house burn and not squirting some water on it. But I understand the other side. Fire departments lack funding as it is and if you want a service provided to your home you better pay for it.

You wouldn't get away with this with the gas or electric company. They wouldn't keep your gas/electric connected just because it's the middle of winter and you forgot to pay.

 

[Go Big D!]

From what I understand, the 911 operator or the fire department usually figure out the jurisdiction before going out to the site. If for some reason a fire department does go outside of their jurisdiction, they are typically reimbursed their expenses.

If we get direct calls to the station we are instructed to tell the caller to hang up and dial 911. The dispatcher puts the call out to the proper department. And everything is recorded for posterity.

 

[Hostile]

So what if there had been a HUMAN in that house, Hoss? You still let it burn?

There wasn't a human in the house. If you want to actually discuss what I wrote, please do. But what ifs do not interest me.

 

[Hostile]

That's a VERY different situation.

As a firefighter, you're trained to take your own safety and the safety of your fellow firefighters into account above all else.....but the type of person that works to become a firefighter (there are most definitely exceptions), are typically not "idle" or passive in situations like that.

You weigh the possibility of death or injury to yourself first before making those decisions, and I'd be surprised if most firefighters wouldn't make entry on the house if there was human life at stake, and there was reasonable opportunity for rescue. It's about weighing risks and possible results.

Personal safety, firefighter safety, occupant safety, the safety of those in other life threatening situations, animal or livestock safety, incident stabilization, and property conservation are weighed in that order.

Personally, I'd have a hard time putting my job and my family's income on the line for the last three safety issues. Call me a scumbag, or whatever, but I'm going home to my family with my income still intact....it's not my responsibility to protect another man's property if it endangers my own.

These firefighters did what they had to do. If you have a problem with it, it should be addressed by the county, city, or whatever other governing body that creates the policies for that fire department.

 

[Joe Realist]

What if Brett Favre..oh never mind..