Firefighters let home burn; owner didn't pay fee

A sad commentary of where we are in these economically challenged times. Some cities and municipalities have been forced to charge extra fees for basic city services, including emergency service. The story below describes the outcome of someone who did not pay and saw his house burn to the ground.

I can appreciate both sides of the argument here. The homeowner took a gamble to save $75 that his house would not catch fire. Or perhaps he may have felt that the $75 was a pricey fee that he could not justify paying. But in the bigger picture, paying $75 and having the fire department save a burning house is obviously much cheaper than losing a house.

By the same token, there are human decency considerations. For the vast majority of people, our first instinct is to help someone in need. I'm sure some of the firefighters were conflict by standing by watching a house burn to the ground. Yet if they had helped, then their jobs might have been in jeopardy.

Firefighters let home burn; owner didn't pay fee

Wow. That is a sad story for all concerned indeed!

Crazy times we live in!

I think there are some things that are externalities and/or public goods. They can't really be successfully privatized or shouldn't be.

Amen!

That is an awful story.
Newark NJ and some other cities now tell crime victims that, unless the crime was violent, they simply report it online, with no further action. Newark also stopped paying for gas for city vehicles other than police and fire. Colorado Springs charges residents of some neighborhoods $75 annually to turn on streetlights.

Here in rural AZ, homeowners are required to create "defensible space" around their homes in case of wildfires, which occur frequently. If you let your property grow wild, so that there's no ingress or egress for firefighters, they aren't obligated to fight a fire in your home or on your property. On the other hand, the fire department will, for only $100, clear out your property to comply with the requirement--the real cost is subsidized by the state.

Hell, we don't want to make him a freeloader now do we-

News accounts state that the homeowners name was not on the payment list. Was that a hard copy or a pc based list? In either case, was there the possibility of something - I not sure what it's called - oh yeah, an error?
Madonne!

They had this guy on MSNBC the other day. He said he offered to pay the $75 (yes, after the fact). He said he has a job. He said he forgot to pay. Is any of that really important?

So, charge him, garnish his wages to have him pay, charge him a penalty but for God's sake, don't just watch the guy's house burn down.

I heard earlier today the the fireman only got involved when some of the neighbors complained that the fire was getting close to their homes.


TIS

I remember reading once that when your neighbor's house is on fire, you don't negotiate with him over the price of your garden hose. What is wrong with people, that they would let this happen? There is something called human kindness.

Very good point. I don't understand the firefighters just standing by and watching.... according to them they were doing their job .... how can they look themselves in a mirror? How can they ever look at the faces of the people whose house burned down?

Wow, that's incredible! I can't believe that that would occur some where in the united states!

You know, I think that it was a tailer. I bet it didn't take long to go up in flames.

What's a "tailer"?

The Fire Department didn't even respond to the call of the house burning. They only responded when a neighbor called and was worried that the flames might spread to his property (and he had paid his firefighters fee).

All I can think of is watching all of the out of town firemen coming into the city in droves back on 9/11. Do you think they checked their contracts first?

Conflicted isn't good enough. These guys are supposed to be heroes. They take an oath (albeit a different one) just like cops do. There's no excuse. This was a selfish and disgusting act on their part. I hope that firemen around the globe speak out against this.

i wonder if the home owner can sue the city for this? really though in this time and place, everybody needs the help. $75 may be cheap for alot, but for some that's all they have.

My father was a fireman for 30 years. He would not have stood by and let a structure burn, especially a home.

The firefighters' lack of action is disgraceful. A housefire poses serious risks to lives as well as property. Their reaction is an insult to their calling.

What if the computer crashes and they can't look up to see if someone paid the fee or not? This is sickening.

I'm not defending the inaction of the Fire Dept, but this is what I heard. The homeowner called 911 more than once. They told him that they would not be coming because they had access to his records to verify that the $75 was not paid. But like Mig pointed out, what if this podunk town's computers went down - how would they have checked?

Many of us out there (I include myself) want smaller government. This situation was a direct result of the drawbacks of smaller government.

If this does turn into a lawsuit, I think the homeowner would have a difficult time winning the case. Like it or not, the city offered him the opportunity for service. Regardless of whether he forgot or was upset to have to pay, he did not make payment for the service. For the homeowner to demonstrate that he had no fault in this will be tricky. He cannot say that a legal contract was broken because offer/acceptance/consideration were present. The nonpayment of the fee was the homeowner's right to decline the offer of service from the city. Had he paid the $75 and the Fire Dept not tried to put out the fire, then the homeowner would most assuredly have a strong case.

My niece moved to Tennessee last year. She loved the fact the cost of living was so lower. You could buy a 4 bedroom mansion for the price of a one bedroom apartment here. But, the payoff is 10% sales tax and they don't pay state tax. They love the fact their paycheck looks better, but hence, you don't get as much services. She hss to pay for trash pick up. I know in her area the Fire Department is all volunteer, they have no paid firefighters.

I understand that the whole department is funded on just eight thousand dollars. They get no money from the county and most of the money comes from fund raises.

That the son of the man who's house just burned did have a fire a few years ago and was allowed to pay the $75.00 fee after the fact. But that was under a different fire chief.

and when they did come to the sons house, the fire was already out from the family's own work.