No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn

[rah]

Anyone that is unwilling to pay 75 bucks a year for fire insurance deserves what they get.
Granted if I was a firefighter on the scene i would have waved some water on the guys house as long as I was there.

[BeBMan]

Of course, but if he had paid the annual fee of 75 they would have done the job (that's how I understand it). They could just offer to pay the sum afterwards, as long as it's once per year.

[rah]

Then people wouldn't pay it until after they had a fire. That's silly.

[DinoDoc]

Now he's a lesson for the others, BeBro.

[Main_Brain]

The real error was not building his house close enough to the insured neighbouring house. The Firebreak created by the garden/fence nullified his freeriding advantage

Successive combinations of fire brigades led to virtually the entire city of London being put under the protection of the London Fire Engine Establishment, which fought not only the fires of policy holders but those of nonsubscribers, the reason being that fires in uninsured buildings could rapidly spread to insured buildings

(wiki-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_insurance_marks)

[BeBMan]

Well, I said "once per year" - what I don't understand is: seems those within the city limits get that service, does that mean they pay regular taxes for it? Then why don't they just include the rest there as well and tax it in the same way?

[DinoDoc]

Well, I said "once per year" - what I don't understand is: seems those within the city limits get that service, does that mean they pay regular taxes for it? Then why don't they just include the rest there as well and tax it in the same way?

The city doesn't have taxing authority for county residents.

[rah]

They don't have authority to tax outside the defined tax district. So hence they offer it as an extra service.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Why just didn't they put out the fire and sent him a bill over 75 bucks?

This. If he said he's willing to pay their costs, put it out and bill him the amount.

The problem here is that the county didn't have a county-wide fire fighting service.

[DinoDoc]

This. If he said he's willing to pay their costs, put it out and bill him the amount.

Why would anyone ever pay the fee before hand?

[Guynemer]

What's to stop some enterprising fire departments from extortion? IE, starting some fires on non-paying residents' land.

Extreme example, yes, but I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here. This sounds like a great set-up for a protection racket.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Why would anyone ever pay the fee before hand?

Because it'd be far, far, far below the actual costs of the bill. Kind of like health treatment.

[DinoDoc]

Guy: The city is obligated to provide the service to non-residents for free?

[Asher]

What's to stop some enterprising fire departments from extortion? IE, starting some fires on non-paying residents' land.

Extreme example, yes, but I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here. This sounds like a great set-up for a protection racket.

Sounds like a great plot line for a book about an arson investigator.

[MOBIUS]

I still can't get over how backwards and ****ed up the US is...

The one that blew my mind the other month was the extortional fees you have to pay for HOAs! Still, that's anti socialism for you!