FIRE DEPARTMENT WATCHES HOUSE BURN AFTER OWNER FAILS TO BUY PROTECTION

[charlemagnetism]

i heard this story on the tv and couldnt beleive what i heard.  i then went to the youtoob video and saw the same thing.  look at the brief spot on here and then comment on what you think should have been done.  what is terrible in my view is that this is about equal to cops looking the other way when someone is getting mugged right in front of them.  of which this poor guy who lost his home and some animals also had his son arrested for assaulting the fire chief.  all over missing a 75$ payoff for one year.

 

 

[charlemagnetism]

imbedding didnt work in the previous here it is:

[Lisa O'Brien]

He should of paid the bill. Yes it does seem cold and callus; but I know if I don't pay my car insurance should something happen they do not cover it - even if I offer to make the payment. This was a private company and they were not under any contract to provide services. Personally if I were the firemen I would have put out the fire - but from a business stand point I see why they didn't.

[charlemagnetism]

thats why i thought this was intresting. you can say yeah he didnt pay his bill too bad and pass the marshmellows. or you can say thats pretty bloody pathetic when a fire chief has to check to see whether someone paid up this year. he has paid in the past but missed this year. the utility companies give you a break if you miss a month.

[Lisa O'Brien]

The county privatized these services to give the residents lower taxes. Businesses have to weigh the odds. Utility companies do give you a break - because odds are you need them more than they need you, most people have grown accustomed to electricity, heat and phone service.

[Sweater Cows!]

They let animals die?

We had an inspector(police officer for salvage title vehicles) at work who said how he had to respond to a fire once and there was a dog on a porch made of block and he had to let it burn instead of shooting it because the bullet could have ricochet at the lookie loos.

I started using a different inspector after that it pissed me off so bad.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Yes it is sad that the owners pet perished in the fire, but I would not want a fireman to risk his life for animals - humans yes, pets no.

[XLFD]

This is sad. I can't imagine a whole crew of trained firefighters and their officers just standing by without doing something. This sickens me because I am sure if we looked at how much money this gentleman has paid in taxes to his state and county over the years, they should be in great debt to him. In making this poor man an example, they have shown why we should consider alternatives to government-provided services-- as the initial fire departments in this country started out as being privately-run.

To all the people who think this was a good way to show others in the county that they should pay their money each year for fire protection: should we then crack down on all others who receive government services and contribute nothing to the system, such as illegal immigrants or the poor?

Just think about what will happen to the citizens of this country when healthcare becomes a ward of the state. In this county that lets a man's house burn, would they also deny him the help of first responders and ambulances and let him die if he didn't pay another fee?

[Lisa O'Brien]

From what I read - this wasn't Government provided services - to lower taxes it was privatized. ANd yes to your second question if you are illegal immigrants you should not receive assistance - the poor I would say depends on the circumstances.

[XLFD]

This was a municipal fire department, funded by taxes for those living in the city it was based, who received extra money for providing service to the outlying areas of the county. The Ludington FD provides such services for Epworth Heights and several other places outside the city limits, for such payments.

Yet, if this was an illegal immigrant, there would be louder cries of unfairness and racism, rightly or not.

The TN FD in this piece finally responded to a neighbor's call to protect his property from fire. What would have been the harm in putting it out to cut down this exposure risk?

[charlemagnetism]

isnt there some kind of hipocratic oath that firefihgters take so that they don't coward out before going to one of these infernos. seems to me like there should be so poor guys like this wont lose there house for making the wrong decision. prickish city manger kinda reminds you of the one we have here. who elects these dunderheads anyways.

[XLFD]

No one elects the dunderheads, the Mayor appoints them and the City Council hires them to do their bidding so that the blame for doing politically unpopular things can be foisted on someone who doesn't have to worry about re-election by the people. Such a system makes your elected officials effectively unaccountable, and is contrary to a representative democracy.

There is no such oath for firefighters I know of, but as RJE says, I think that whoever made the ultimate call on 'not helping', whether it was the fire chief or someone higher up, made the wrong call simply because it was heartless and inhuman.

As Cicero said, "The safety of the people shall be the highest law". Payment not made notwithstanding, this law was broken by the municipality.

[Willy]

This is outrageous. I don't care if he paid or not. A trained fire dept. has no business standing around and letting someone's home burn to the ground. What if an elderly peson forgot to pay or the payment was lost in the mail. The county has to rethink how this service is funded.