Firefighters let home burn because owner didn't pay for fire service

[Surfah]

This article should provide for a decent discussion: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot...logical-debate

Here's the gist, basically this rural area of Tennessee didn't even have fire services 20 years ago. For those who want it they now pay $75 a year. This gentleman who did not pay the $75 service fee had his home catch on fire. He called 911 and the firefighters were dispatched. Not to put out his fire but to standby should the neighbor's home catch on fire because he paid the $75 fee. So the firefighters stood at the ready and watched this home burn to the ground and the leaped into action once the fire crossed the property line of the paying neighbor.

[Clark Addison]

This article should provide for a decent discussion: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot...logical-debate

Here's the gist, basically this rural area of Tennessee didn't even have fire services 20 years ago. For those who want it they now pay $75 a year. This gentleman who did not pay the $75 service fee had his home catch on fire. He called 911 and the firefighters were dispatched. Not to put out his fire but to standby should the neighbor's home catch on fire because he paid the $75 fee. So the firefighters stood at the ready and watched this home burn to the ground and the leaped into action once the fire crossed the property line of the paying neighbor.

At first glance, I thought it was absurd that the firefighters would let the home burn to the ground, but the issue is a little more difficult for me to decide on than I originally thought. You have a situation here where a rural area does not have fire service. Therefore, they contract for service from a nearby city, as long as they pay a $75 fee. The city does not have the resources to fight every fire in the area; they need the money. If they start putting out fires for anyone, regardless of whether they pay the fee, will anyone pay the fee in the future? I could certainly see a scenario where the firefighters put out this fire and it leads to the eventual cessation of services to all rural homeowners.

As an aside, my understanding is that the firefighters will still work to save human lives whether the fee has been paid or not, but wil not work to save property.