No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn

[Arrian]

Lots of communities have volunteer fire departments. How does this county simply not have one? Am I missing something? Maybe b/c I grew up in the NE, when even "rural" areas are fairly suburban?

-Arrian

[rah]

Even volunteer departments are expensive due to the equipment required. The money for that has to come from somewhere, so it makes sense to centralize it whenever possible.

[MOBIUS]

Centralising sounds dangerously like Socialism to me...

[rah]

[OneFootInTheGrave]

yes, one day they are centralizing the fire department, the other you have the national health service, and in the end the communist killing fields like in Cambodgia, only this time in Tennessee. It's a slippery slope.

[Arrian]

Seriously, though, I have no doubt that's what the voters in this county were thinking when they voted it down in 2002.

Oh, the humanity.

-Arrian

[Asher]

I'm kind of surprised that the right wingers here aren't crying about the socialist police services and socialist fire services if they hate "socialist healthcare" so much.

You want health coverage? BUY YOUR OWN!
You want fire coverage? BUY YOUR OWN!
You want police coverage? BUY YOUR OWN!

Consistency.

[Dinner]

Is the pool big enough to justify allowing rural county residents to free ride off the city's resources if people are allowed to pay on the spot?

No one has said that. I've said it should be paid for out of property taxes of county residents just like it is done with the county sheriff's department. That's what we do in civilized states so why can't you folks in backwards states do the same? Naturally, if the city is providing the service because the county is too cheap to do so then the county needs to provide funds to the city but any way you slice it fire services are a basic service which county residents need to have other wise why pay any property taxes?

[Dinner]

Seriously, though, I have no doubt that's what the voters in this county were thinking when they voted it down in 2002.

Oh, the humanity.

-Arrian

They weren't thinking. They're just retards.

[Dinner]

I grew up in a rural area. You buy fire insurance to cover your house. No fire service unless you paid a fee to run the firehall which was all volunteer. Would they have let your house burn down? no. But you'd better believe that residents paid for the service.

Wow, I had no idea Canada was so backwards and primitive.

[Cort Haus]

I'm kind of surprised that the right wingers here aren't crying about the socialist police services and socialist fire services if they hate "socialist healthcare" so much.

You want health coverage? BUY YOUR OWN!
You want fire coverage? BUY YOUR OWN!
You want police coverage? BUY YOUR OWN!

Consistency.

Not to mention national security.

You want anti-terrorism coverage? BUY YOUR OWN!

[Arrian]

Please, please, please do not make me defend the libertarian/conservative viewpoint on that stuff. PLEASE.

-Arrian

[Dinner]

Feel free to complain to the county, not the city...

I'm telling you that in my state what that fire crew and the county did would be considered a criminal act. I.E. the county is legally required to provide basic services such as fire and police protection to all persons and if the county failed to provide (either by having its own fire service or paying another entity such as the city fire department in question) fire service then lots of people would be going to jail while both the county and city would hit with massive fines. There is absolutely no problems with requiring such basic government services to be paid for out of property tax funds and in fact that is the most efficient and easiest way to handle these sorts of services (police, fire, etc).

The very fact that someone must pay extra for a basic government service means Tennessee, and any other place with a similar situation, is a backwards ****hole.

[Asher]

Wow, I had no idea Canada was so backwards and primitive.

Canada is more of a wilderness compared to the US. Compare the population density.

You cannot serve people who live 4 people per 100 km^2 with full-service fire houses.

[Dinner]

[q]
No, it is absolutely NOT like that. Taxes are collectible whether or not you avail yourself of the services they pay for. The fee this guy wasn't paying was OPTIONAL.

Which, of course, is the problematic part. Basic government services (police, fire, etc) should never be optional and should be universally provided for everyone. If civilized states can do this then wtf can't Tennessee? If this level of retardation is how low they've sunk then why not just make police coverage optional? What's that you say? Police services are a basic government function? Yes, yes they are just like fire services especially since fires spread and can easily get out of control and end up damaging public property or other people's property because you let the fire get big because you decided not to put out a fire at someone's home. This is a basic public safety issue.