If you live in Tennessee, you better pay your fire dues....

[BamaDrifter64]

or else.....

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html

[Jack]

When I was 17, I helped evacuate a burning house while firefighters watched because the house was a 1/4 mile outside their jurisdiction.  They said they could not put out the fire unless it spread to other structures.

[fudgie]

Well it said the city would not respond to the county. This is common. It is not their territory. There should have been a county or township FD. I think they better get one started. Your taxes pay for fire service. Luckily this does not happen around here.

[czuch]

We have the same thing here. I'm in the county and have "fire extortion" too. Its a modular (trailer) home and will go POOF before they're even out of the fire house.
Still, I pay. AND take em lunch every quarter.
Hey, somebody take out the hook!!!!!!

[big turkey]

Boy that really toasts my acorns.

How low can you go.

Next time they are out passing the fire boot around a intersection, for donations, they can kiss this

ole boys behind.

Lucky they did not get shot when responding to the neighbors house.


Al

[thomas]

When I was a Vol. Firefighter .  We had a Chief , who said that fires knows no boundries and we don't either.  He often said that we will answer all calls and worries about poltics later.  After serving 21 years and finnally retiring from the Canadian Tx.  Vol, Fire Dept. I am pround to say we never refuse to help or turned our back on a call. We answered calls 100 miles away from home and also crossed state lines in to Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Fire Dept. crossed in to Texas when call    Now my 2 cents, I belive the Chief  and the Fire fighters  that refused to help should resigned .  Firefighting is serving the people in your commuties . Not whether you ride a Valkyrie or Harley whether to put the fire out or not . now it is motorcycle related
                                                                thomas

[Chili Pepper]

I almost posted this link to T.P.'s WTH? post saying I'd call his WTH? and raise him one.  This one includes a lot of feedback/comments.
http://thenewsoftoday.com/south-fulton-tennessee-fire-department-refuses-to-put-out-house-fire/3265/

That's just flat wrong.     

 

[FLAVALK]

Thats a crime. How could any man who calls himself a firefighter stand and watch that?

Because of $75...REALLY???????????

[Challenger]

As a past Fire chief and now Firefighter-EMT  on the Bradford Fire & Rescue Dept for the past 36 years, I can say proudly that we have never refused to respond to any emergency because it was out of our district. Our fire district covers the corners of four counties and we will get called by mistake to other districts, We respond and attack until the proper dept shows up and takes command and then we stay until the emergency is taken care of. Our Fire depts in Il. are tax supported and I don't understand the $75.00 thing, But then I don't understand alot of things. I will tell you one thing, no matter who's home or property it is, I will not stand by and watch it burn if I can help in any way.  

[Quicksilver]

Would the firefighters be covered by insurance if they were hurt fighting a fire like that?

[fudgie]

You are all right. But there are limits. Up here you are paged to go. Its out of your area tell dispatch that and they will call the appropriate FD but you still respond. You show me what FF would not respond to a fire call. We live for it!  We even have dual response zones where each boundry is overlapped a mile each way. Now our city FD. They will not take a FF out of the city. If we have a med run and need to bipass our hospital for another one, they will not do it. We page out the county FD to meet us along the way and drive for us.

Quicksilver, yes the FD insurance will cover a FF on any call. To and from the scene.

Hope something is done down there.  

[CajunRider]

I thought State taxes paid for the fire department????? 

So, you're forced to pay taxes, but forget the "fee" and you're screwed???  Out of how many thousands in taxes they paid, the fire department spit on them for $75??? 

Whoever made that law, AND whoever told those fire fighters to stand down (including that Mayor)... they can all rot in Hell as far as I'm concerned. 

Bunch of evil bastards that don't deserve the tiniest bit of respect (or the position they hold).

           

[Brad]

That is a bum deal for sure.  It is a County Government problem.  They do not want to provide fire protection for their citizens so the local town has agreed to provide protection for $75 per property.  Lots of property owners want to roll the dice and not pay the fee, which is basically insurance, and expect the town to help them anyway.  The town has limited resources and if there was a fire in the town or at a covered property in the county and there was not personnel and equipment to respond then the argument would go the other way.  The proper way to handle this would be for the County to tax everyone the $75 and turn the money over to the town so that everyone is covered and not let the individual property owners choose for themselves if they want to be covered or not.  It is not a very big city information from their website

Demographics of South Fulton

Population 2004 = 2474 (Males = 1163; Females = 1354)

Elevation = 365 ft.

County = Obion

Land area - ~3.1 sq miles

Median resident age = 41.7 years

Median household income = $27,462 (year 2000)

Median household value = $53,500 (year 2000)

[MP]

I thought State taxes paid for the fire department????? 

So, you're forced to pay taxes, but forget the "fee" and you're screwed???  Out of how many thousands in taxes they paid, the fire department spit on them for $75??? 

Whoever made that law, AND whoever told those fire fighters to stand down (including that Mayor)... they can all rot in Hell as far as I'm concerned. 

Bunch of evil bastards that don't deserve the tiniest bit of respect (or the position they hold).

           

Wrong.  He had paid $0 in taxes, not thousands.   

Depends on the state, and the local jurisdiction.  I do not believe state taxes pay for fire departments anywhere.  It is a local issue.   I live in a rural area.

 Our nearest town is 17 miles away, a town of 300, and it is in a different county.  years back, we had no fire protection. 

We have two towns in our county, one is 50 miles away, and has about 100 people.  The other, the county seat, is 30 miles away, and has about 20 residents on a good day. Our whole county is about 500 people.

ALL the local fire departments are volunteer depts.  We used to pay a fee like this.  We then initiated a ballot measure for a fire district, which crosses county lines, and assessed a tax upon ourselves  to provide fire protection.  The various local fire departments then have agreements among themselves to help each other out, because each is too small to fight any big fire.

I feel sorry for the guy.  BUT.  If we went back to when we had no fire district, why would we ever join a district, and assess ourselves taxes for it, if the local fire dept in our town of 300, would fight all the fires out in their rural areas?  They would go broke.

Just like fire insurance.  Pay, or you do not have insurance.  Would any of you say that if the man did NOT carry, and  pay for, fire insurance, some insurance company should pay his loss anyway?  I think not.

MP

[Hoser]

Proud to say, all rivalry and animosity between rural and city fire departments in Shawnee County Kansas is a thing in the distant past.  During my 34 years of fire service, all the chiefs of all the departments initiated a automatic  mutual aid system that sends two fire departments to all fire incidents that are on district borders,  When the principal department arrives, they have the option to keep both departments for the incident, or cancel or release the mutual aid from the neighboring district. They can also call for more aid, if conditions demand more help. There are 6 rural districts as well as the city of Topeka available.  About 75 in service fire companys available.  This policy has been in effect since the consolidation of the county wide communications systems, 20 years ago.  There probably are problems in this state, as described in this post, but not here!  

Hoser, Chief SCFD # 2, Retired
City of Topeka Fire Dept. Shift Commander, Retired

[cutter]

Hoser's set up is like what we have here. We have mutual aid agreements with the other surrounding departments. We have the largest territory in the county and then some. We cover 300 sq miles with 6 stations and have 4 stations manned 24/7. We are a combination FD with volunteers/duty crews and both get paid when on the manning crew. Our funding come from our ESD that get it monies from our county property tax. A small % of it is devided up between the hospital district and FD.
  We will never sit and watch someones house burn cause your not in our district or what ever reason. There is nothing like being able to  run a call out of district and beat another FD to there own call, knock it down, tap it out, and 7-1 it letting them do salvage and over haul. We live for that stuff.
 We run between 3500 to 4000 calls a year. We run everything not just house fires, we do MVA's, medical, water rescue and have even assisted law enforcement with our thermal imager to locate those trying to hide at night from them. LOL
 You live in our area, we got ya covered.... 

[CajunRider]

Wrong.  He had paid $0 in taxes, not thousands.   

$0 ???  I wanna live where HE lives!!!  Cause I pay approx 35% between fed, state, & sales ALONE. 

That's not counting B.S. taxes like gasoline, "sin" taxes, the new "Tan" tax (of course, I don't tan... I'm just sayin).... ... ... ...

Bottom line, he pays PLENTY in taxes.  Unless, of course, he doesn't have a job and lives on the system.... but being he owned his home (as opposed to section-8), I would assume he has a job, or is retired from a job. 

I don't care WHERE the fire department get their money to spend... it's still a tax, and that guy payed plenty of $$ I'm sure. 

And even though... aside from that... what the hell happened to common decency???  I'm sorry...  If I was standing next to a burning house with a water hose in my hand, I could care less what my boss says... I'm spraying that house with every drop of water I got.  I'll deal with the paperwork AFTER I save SOMETHING that the poor soul owns.

[fiddle mike]

That's criminal, if for no other reason than the mercenary bastards have given the last real American heroes a black eye.

[stormrider]

No black eye here. Been fighting fires for 23 years. Fortunate for us we don't have a voluntary pay system. Some places in FL have that. Heard of it happening there as well. Like some have said, it's kinda like having homeowners insurance, if you don't want to pay, then guess what, you don't have coverage. And why should others have to pay for this guys greed.

As a volunteer FF, it costs me lots of money and time and we respond when others are all nice and comfy in bed or watching the tube. I would look at someone who didn't want to pay if we had that policy, as telling me that all my effort and commitment isn't worth a measly $75 to help me buy the needed gear to keep me safe so I could make it back home to my wife and kids. A new set of turnout gear that is NFPA approved runs anywhere from $1200-$2000. A SCBA runs over $2200. A new pumper can run over $250k. Insurance, workman's comp, light bill, etc. Plus you add all the donated time for training, my gas to get back and forth from the station, etc. etc. So, if that is their city's policy, then the fire department had no choice, the homeowner did.

And, unless you've been there, you don't have much room to complain.

BTW, We get a small amount from the State Forestry for buying equipment for grass/woods fires, a county wide fire suppression funding fee imposed on every resident that was voted on county wide, tobacco tax money and some funds from the small town budget. We don't pick and choose, we respond whenever called and have mutual aid agreements with the whole county and a neighboring city in the adjoining county.

[daytona]

I thought State taxes paid for the fire department????? 

So, you're forced to pay taxes, but forget the "fee" and you're screwed???  Out of how many thousands in taxes they paid, the fire department spit on them for $75??? 

Whoever made that law, AND whoever told those fire fighters to stand down (including that Mayor)... they can all rot in Hell as far as I'm concerned. 

Bunch of evil bastards that don't deserve the tiniest bit of respect (or the position they hold).

           

Wrong.  He had paid $0 in taxes, not thousands.   

Depends on the state, and the local jurisdiction.  I do not believe state taxes pay for fire departments anywhere.  It is a local issue.   I live in a rural area.

 Our nearest town is 17 miles away, a town of 300, and it is in a different county.  years back, we had no fire protection. 

We have two towns in our county, one is 50 miles away, and has about 100 people.  The other, the county seat, is 30 miles away, and has about 20 residents on a good day. Our whole county is about 500 people.

ALL the local fire departments are volunteer depts.  We used to pay a fee like this.  We then initiated a ballot measure for a fire district, which crosses county lines, and assessed a tax upon ourselves  to provide fire protection.  The various local fire departments then have agreements among themselves to help each other out, because each is too small to fight any big fire.

I feel sorry for the guy.  BUT.  If we went back to when we had no fire district, why would we ever join a district, and assess ourselves taxes for it, if the local fire dept in our town of 300, would fight all the fires out in their rural areas?  They would go broke.

Just like fire insurance.  Pay, or you do not have insurance.  Would any of you say that if the man did NOT carry, and  pay for, fire insurance, some insurance company should pay his loss anyway?  I think not.

MP

well said! non payers cause the fees to skyrocket. U Have to pay to get Home ins policy! wonder if their policy pays off?

[MP]

Wrong.  He had paid $0 in taxes, not thousands.   

$0 ???  I wanna live where HE lives!!!  Cause I pay approx 35% between fed, state, & sales ALONE. 

That's not counting B.S. taxes like gasoline, "sin" taxes, the new "Tan" tax (of course, I don't tan... I'm just sayin).... ... ... ...

Bottom line, he pays PLENTY in taxes.  Unless, of course, he doesn't have a job and lives on the system.... but being he owned his home (as opposed to section-8), I would assume he has a job, or is retired from a job. 

I don't care WHERE the fire department get their money to spend... it's still a tax, and that guy payed plenty of $$ I'm sure. 

And even though... aside from that... what the hell happened to common decency???  I'm sorry...  If I was standing next to a burning house with a water hose in my hand, I could care less what my boss says... I'm spraying that house with every drop of water I got.  I'll deal with the paperwork AFTER I save SOMETHING that the poor soul owns.

You misunderstood.  He paid $0 in FIRE Protection District Taxes.  Sure he paid school, water, sewer, road, 911, etc. taxes.  But, he was NOT in a fire district, which is why he did not get service.  The neighboring district offered to come over there, OUT OF THEIR JURISDICTION, and offer fire protection, at a paltry sum of $75 per year.  He did not pay the small fee, thus no service.

Look, I feel sorry for him too.  But, if he did not have to pay, no one else would either, and the fire service would go away.

MP

[Charlie]

Wrong.  He had paid $0 in taxes, not thousands.   

$0 ???  I wanna live where HE lives!!!  Cause I pay approx 35% between fed, state, & sales ALONE. 

That's not counting B.S. taxes like gasoline, "sin" taxes, the new "Tan" tax (of course, I don't tan... I'm just sayin).... ... ... ...

Bottom line, he pays PLENTY in taxes.  Unless, of course, he doesn't have a job and lives on the system.... but being he owned his home (as opposed to section-8), I would assume he has a job, or is retired from a job. 

I don't care WHERE the fire department get their money to spend... it's still a tax, and that guy payed plenty of $$ I'm sure. 

And even though... aside from that... what the hell happened to common decency???  I'm sorry...  If I was standing next to a burning house with a water hose in my hand, I could care less what my boss says... I'm spraying that house with every drop of water I got.  I'll deal with the paperwork AFTER I save SOMETHING that the poor soul owns.

You misunderstood.  He paid $0 in FIRE Protection District Taxes.  Sure he paid school, water, sewer, road, 911, etc. taxes.  But, he was NOT in a fire district, which is why he did not get service.  The neighboring district offered to come over there, OUT OF THEIR JURISDICTION, and offer fire protection, at a paltry sum of $75 per year.  He did not pay the small fee, thus no service.

Look, I feel sorry for him too.  But, if he did not have to pay, no one else would either, and the fire service would go away.

MP

I think you nailed it on the head, MP.  People these days think they pay too much tax in general, so they figure they should get services for everything.  I always go with you get what you pay for.

[Daniel Meyer]

The guy should have paid the bill...but the department should have come anyway.

Fire knows no boundaries. Our small town and county departments all aid each other, often without agreements. Something catches on fire, they start rolling folks and equipment from all around until somebody in authority says, "That's enough, we've got it."

If it comes to it, the politicians and lawyers can figure out the money part.

Firefighters, EMT's, and cops...they're only heroes if they embrace the philosophy, "If you call, we come."

Anything else is just a mercenary.

[BamaDrifter64]

I think my problem with the whole situation is the fact that he told the fire department that he would pay them whatever they wanted if they would just come and fight the fire and they told him "no, it was too late".  If it was just about the money, why wouldn't they do that if he paid them whatever at the scene?  It was more like "hey, you didn't pay, so tough sh*t - we don't want your stinkin' money".  THAT'S wrong IMO.

Dave

[fudgie]

I think my problem with the whole situation is the fact that he told the fire department that he would pay them whatever they wanted if they would just come and fight the fire and they told him "no, it was too late".  If it was just about the money, why wouldn't they do that if he paid them whatever at the scene?  It was more like "hey, you didn't pay, so tough sh*t - we don't want your stinkin' money".  THAT'S wrong IMO.

Dave

He did say that, in his time of need. What about the other 364 days?

In our EMS work, we will transport you where ever you want if you got the cash. If its not medically necc we tell them up front it will be $3,000 or so to transport you. Pay it or not get transported. Its not the 1st time we have turned down transports cause of a not pay.
Money keeps deptartments running. No money, you close doors.

[BamaDrifter64]

Yeah, but don't you see the difference in your statement?  You DO transport them if they have the money.  Here the guy was offering to pay not only the $75, but pretty much anything for them to come fight the fire and they told him to basically kiss their #ss.  Little bit of difference there....

Dave

I think my problem with the whole situation is the fact that he told the fire department that he would pay them whatever they wanted if they would just come and fight the fire and they told him "no, it was too late".  If it was just about the money, why wouldn't they do that if he paid them whatever at the scene?  It was more like "hey, you didn't pay, so tough sh*t - we don't want your stinkin' money".  THAT'S wrong IMO.

Dave

He did say that, in his time of need. What about the other 364 days?

In our EMS work, we will transport you where ever you want if you got the cash. If its not medically necc we tell them up front it will be $3,000 or so to transport you. Pay it or not get transported. Its not the 1st time we have turned down transports cause of a not pay.
Money keeps deptartments running. No money, you close doors.

[f6john]

     If I understand the situation correctly, the real outrage is that they came to the scene to protect the next door neighbors property who had paid their fee. Most of the costs involved with the run had been expended, yes, no? At the very least it could have been a valuable training exercise for any members who were fairly inexperienced. If you had to pay for police protection in this fashion would they stand by while someone who had not made their payment was being robbed? While it is easy to sit back and judge a persons decisions, just be aware that there are more and more people to whom $75.00 could mean the difference from being able to pay the electric bill or put gas in the car or even have enough food to get through the month. I dare say that most of us who ride our Valkyries are not faced with those kinds of decisions.

[Hoser]

You know, If it had been my company on scene, I probly would have went ahead and fought it even though I was'nt supposed to back in the day, not to save any ones ass, not for pay, but just because I always loved to slay the dragon.   Hoser