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This is so bad, it is hard to believe this is true. Every single person in that fire department should lose their job.
Some excerpts (italicized):
A Tennessee man watched in horror last week as flames consumed his house. Also watching? The local subscription-based fire department. The man had not paid his $75 firefighting fee, so the firemen would not lift a finger or a hose.
Only after the fire spread to his neighbor's field would the firemen even respond to his 911 calls. Once there, they only put out the field fire as his house continued to burn to a crisp. His neighbor had paid his firefighting fee.
"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.
The man offered to pay them the fee right then and there, or however much it took to get them to put out the fire, but was refused. The man lives in a county that has no fire protection. The nearby town offers fire protection to non-residents on a per-contract basis.
"Anybody that's not in the city of South Fulton, it's a service we offer, either they accept it or they don't," the mayor told WPSD.
Later someone went to the fire station and assaulted one of the fire fighters.
What would happen if police do the same thing, and watch your daughter getting raped while standing there and doing nothing. At what point has these services (originally designed to protect the public) become available only to those that can afford it? If we are going to be forced to pay for everything that we once thought of as a right, why not allow competition into the marketplace. How about shopping around for the cheapest fire department? What happens when the police, or the fire department, or your hospital start raising prices to amounts that YOU cannot afford? Would they demand thousands of dollars on the spot knowing you have no choice? Should the fire department, or the police department have a monopoly on the safety of our lives? Should this be against the law?
(ORIGINAL LINK) Didn't Pay $75 Fee? Firefighters Watch Your Home Burn To Ground - The Consumerist
I'm with the firefighters on this one. Nobody was hurt. If they let people get away with not paying, that comes directly out of the salary of the firemen. Why should they have to labor for their neighbor for free? Are they slaves?
ReplyDeletemy thinking is more like what they do in hospitals...they legally have to treat you ...then they send you to collection...
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