Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


If that forced payment by taxation guarantees me fire protection, then I will pay for it.

It's true that the guy doesn't have the right to complain. I bet he'll think twice now.

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"Professional, career firefighters shouldn’t be forced to check a list before running out the door to see which homeowners have paid up," Harold Schatisberger, International Association of Fire Fighters president, said in a statement. "They get in their trucks and go."

Firefighters did eventually show up, but only to fight the fire on the neighboring property, whose owner had paid the fee.

"They put water out on the fence line out here. They never said nothing to me. Never acknowledged. They stood out here and watched it burn," Cranick said.

Originally posted by Fractured.Facade
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"Professional, career firefighters shouldn’t be forced to check a list before running out the door to see which homeowners have paid up," Harold Schatisberger, International Association of Fire Fighters president, said in a statement. "They get in their trucks and go."

Firefighters did eventually show up, but only to fight the fire on the neighboring property, whose owner had paid the fee.

"They put water out on the fence line out here. They never said nothing to me. Never acknowledged. They stood out here and watched it burn," Cranick said.

What a load of horse hockey.

"Professional, career firefighters shouldn’t be forced to check a list before running out the door to see which homeowners have paid up,"

It takes 2 seconds for the dispatcher to type in the address and check the house against a database.

Heaven forbid that the dispatcher actually has to do something other than pick up a microphone.

The guy has a clear motive for arguing against fee based fire services:

1. Fee based private fire services are FAR CHEAPER AND MORE COST EFFECTIVE than tax payer based fire services.

2. Fee based private fire services ARE NOT PART OF A UNION CARTEL.

3. Fee based private fire services can put tax payer based fire services out of business due to their lower cost overhead and higher quality of customer service. If the public decides it doesn't need tax payer based services, they can do away with the tax payer funded nonsense. These private fire departments PROVE that private fire coverage can be just as effective as publicly financed coverage.

He hates private fire services for the same reasons all corporations hate the free market, as David Rockefeller once said "competition is a sin".

As an aside -

Security services are perfectly capable of being privatized like these fire services are.

Imagine if you called the police and they actually showed up while doing everything possible to give you the highest quality of customer service possible.

Imagine being able to call a cops supervisor if he did something wrong and actually have the cop be disciplined or fired.

Imagine if cops had the exact same rights you did.

reply to post by mnemeth1


What happens when municipal firefighters lose their jobs to these private fire departments?

There's a lot of pride for some folks. I don't see municipal firefighters standing by while private contractors (essentially) take their jobs.

Originally posted by mnemeth1
As an aside -

Security services are perfectly capable of being privatized like these fire services are.

Imagine if you called the police and they actually showed up while doing everything possible to give you the highest quality of customer service possible.

Imagine being able to call a cops supervisor if he did something wrong and actually have the cop be disciplined or fired.

Imagine if cops had the exact same rights you did.

Sounds good, BUT...

Imagine a dispute with a neighbor. You call your hired guns, they call theirs...I still see corruption and abuse as the ultimate outcome. It didn't work in the wild west and it wouldn't work today.

Somehow, I expected the Volunteer state to be chock full of volunteer fire departments.
It's pretty darn callous to stand by and watch someone's home and pets burn over seventy-five dollars.
There's obviously a difference between a hero and a hero for hire.

Originally posted by The Sword
reply to post by mnemeth1

 

What happens when municipal firefighters lose their jobs to these private fire departments?

There's a lot of pride for some folks. I don't see municipal firefighters standing by while private contractors (essentially) take their jobs.

What happens?

The tax payers save a crap load of money?

Originally posted by Aggie Man

Originally posted by mnemeth1
As an aside -

Security services are perfectly capable of being privatized like these fire services are.

Imagine if you called the police and they actually showed up while doing everything possible to give you the highest quality of customer service possible.

Imagine being able to call a cops supervisor if he did something wrong and actually have the cop be disciplined or fired.

Imagine if cops had the exact same rights you did.

Sounds good, BUT...

Imagine a dispute with a neighbor. You call your hired guns, they call theirs...I still see corruption and abuse as the ultimate outcome. It didn't work in the wild west and it wouldn't work today.

That's ridiculous.

City police and sheriffs don't get into gun battles with each other.

Departments would obviously have rules in place to deal with these situations.

When all the “libertarians” and tea party anti-tax outsourcers and privatizatizers are privatized and outsourced out of a middle class job then what are they going to do?

Go back to the Davy Crocket days?

No because the corporations will own the land and blow you away when you try to do anything on it!

You guys must understand you are being scammed. It isn’t about freedom or taxes; it is about allowing corporations to do what they want.

Very soon you all will see that and then you will be very sorry!

This is a very old custom. YOu used to get a metal plaque on the front of your house if you paid the firefighter fees.


It is a job and people need to be paid.

I can assure you that if I could afford a house, I could afford 75 bucks in fees.

Originally posted by inforeal
When all the “libertarians” and tea party anti-tax outsourcers and privatizatizers are privatized and outsourced out of a middle class job then what are they going to do?

Go back to the Davy Crocket days?

No because the corporations will own the land and blow you away when you try to do anything on it!

You guys must understand you are being scammed. It isn’t about freedom or taxes; it is about allowing corporations to do what they want.

Very soon you all will see that and then you will be very sorry!

Because corporations have guns and shoot people now.

You have a better chance of getting blown away trying to walk into a government restricted zone than walking into Google's corporate offices.

Wow...looks as though some of us are getting intimate here.

He didn't pay on time?
Pets be damned? Let them simply burn?

Looks like we're being shown a little foretaste of...anarchy here.

I really don't want to pull the skin back anymore on this one. Not good.

reply to post by starless and bible black


Nobody said folks couldnt help if they wanted. Nothing was preventing anyone from taking matters into their own hands. Unless of course there was a cop threatening to arrest the guy for doing anything as has been the case many times before.

If my neighbors house was burning I'd do everything in my power to help. But then I'm not entirely useless like most people are. Ive been certified professional rescue and have a numerous hours of applicable training under my belt. That happens when you take the initiative to care for yourself and your own. You realize these uniformed union drones arent supermen and you do for yourself what everyone should be doing.

Take away the phantom 'security blanket' and the cream will rise.

Originally posted by mnemeth1
That's ridiculous.

City police and sheriffs don't get into gun battles with each other.

Departments would obviously have rules in place to deal with these situations.

City police and Sheriffs aren't privatized either......ahhhh, you're right....there is no such thing as corporate corruption

IMO the best way to destroy essential services is to privatize it. Pitting one company against another. Answering only to their share holders/customers, while disregarding all others. Price fixing never happens. I would equate private police forces to the mafia. Constantly jacking up their percentage of the take in exchange for their "protection".

No thanks!

After reading these post I wonder if anyone thought about the taxes this man pays in South Fulton Tn. He pays sales tax to the city,part of those tax dollars funnel to the fire department. Not to mention the Federal tax dollars that they receive for trucks and tools. We have the same set up in my area (a few miles south of where this happened) I have offered to place the cost of a fire call in a savings account That should I have a fire call they could draw from it. They refused ! The reason being is they would not have access to the money. They want that $75 fee from the thousands of homes in their area. It's just a money making scam for the fire departments,pure and simple !

If the fire fighters would have done something the worst that could happen is that they got fired, no pun intended. And if that had happened then the firemen would simply go to the press and large titles would say: "FIRE MEN FIRED FOR PUTTING OUT FIRE" case closed it would solve the case automaticly.

There is only ONE person to BLAME for this unfortunate situation. ONE PERSON, PERIOD!!

The person guilty of this ENTIRE situation is the person who NEGLECTED to pay this MINUSCULE fee that pays for such an INVALUABLE SERVICE to which anyone, with even a single brain cell in their head, would eagerly pay without a second thought.

For those ridiculous enough to argue in defense of the homeowner here, let me ask you just one simple question; should a person who drives WITHOUT auto insurance be allowed to change their mind at the scene of their accident to all of a sudden purchase auto insurance simply to now be able to recover the full value of their now totaled vehicle? So now that person pays their first auto insurance payment and the auto insurance company should pay that person the full value of their vehicle, right? WRONG!! Thats simply RIDICULOUS.

I cannot believe that there are folks ignorant enough to blame ANYONE other than the person RESPONSIBLE for this situation. I simply just do not get it.

reply to post by pplrnuts


For some people $75 is a whole days work. To say that animals and property should be ignored because the guy forgot to pay one time and offered to pay is really evil. How can people be so evil? I hope your evil houses burn down because of a clerical error.

I live in Canada, this would never happen.
To let a persons house burn down like this is just wrong. Sure, if there is a 75$ fee, save the house and put a lean or tax or such to collect. This is exactly what is wrong with the USA and with ATS. These people, for good or bad are your neighbors, their kids go to school with your kids. I don't really see how this can be a deterrent to others unless you actually tell the others he didn't pay in the first place.

In any event, here is a family that lost everything, while the people how could help stood around and did nothing. Sometimes even when your in the right, your still wrong. The people cheering that he shouldn't get any help, should be ashamed of themselves, imagine it was you. Your kids, your family who now has no home. Yes this guy is a moron, but does that mean he deserved to lose everything? One thing for sure, I certainly wouldn't want to live in that community.

..Ex