Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yet they had put out fires for others who hadn't paid the fee, but allowed others to burn in the past. I understand why they stood by and watched the house burn as well, but that doesn't make it morally right. So much for doing to others as you would have others do unto you.
Your morality argument is correct however misplaced. The Homeowner is the one who didn't make it morally right. "Pride comes before a fall" He choose to be prideful and not pay the miniscule fee for such a large monetarily essential service. He obviously thought he was to good for the service and snubbed his nose at it. That is the moral of this story.
$75.00 dollars for fire service? isn't that one the best frigging deals ever?
The firefighters have no culpability in this one. Just the stupid ass home owner.
Your morality argument is correct however misplaced. The Homeowner is the one who didn't make it morally right. "Pride comes before a fall" He choose to be prideful and not pay the miniscule fee for such a large monetarily essential service. He obviously thought he was to good for the service and snubbed his nose at it. That is the moral of this story.
$75.00 dollars for fire service? isn't that one the best frigging deals ever?
The firefighters have no culpability in this one. Just the stupid ass home owner.
I think most people have always lived where they could pick up a phone and make a phone call, where the fire and police departments are an integral part of the community, where trash is picked up at least once a week. The reality is that there are still pockets in the United States where AT&T doesn't work. I live somewhere where the city does not provide trash pick-up. I live somewhere where you cannot pick up the phone, dial 911, and get the local police department. I live somewhere where, when I need the fire department to sign off on something, like a planned burn, or something to do with insurance, it may take a month before I actually catch someone at the fire department at all.
When you've lived your life taking something for granted, like a fire department, it's hard to understand that there are a lot of us who don't. I know what it's like to not have a fire department or sub-station within 30 miles of the house, so when people get together to form a volunteer fire department, I know how precious that service is. I know that the majority of people living in communities serviced by subscription fire departments share my respect and commitment to those subscription fire departments, and show that respect and commitment by paying their dues, by buying pies and cookies at bake sales, buy lining up at chicken barbecues. It's a slap in the face when someone doesn't support these fire departments, because they are needed by the entire community.
Like you, I cannot imagine our fire department letting a family lose their home and possessions over $75. ........They could have taken his money on the spot and saved his home, and chose not to. The self-righteous posters would sing a different tune if such a tragedy happened to them.
That wouldn't work. If they did that and other residents became aware of it, then only a minority of the residents would continue to pay the $75 the correct way in advance. The rest would wait until a fire actually happened at their house (which means never for most). Hence almost no money to fund fire dept.
I love how some of you think life is black and white. How many of you would stand there and be HAPPY if you didn't pay your $75 and your home was going up in flames? Would you sit there and say, "I didn't pay my money, so my home is burning up...that's ok." BS!!! You would be begging on your hands and knees for someone to put out the flames, just like this guy.
EVERY SIDE of this is wrong. The homeowner is wrong for not shelling out the money, the county is wrong for having a s--t system in place and the firefighters were wrong for just standing there, when they could have easily snuffed the fire out BEFORE it had reached the house. Everyone was wrong!!!
The sticking point for me is WHY could they not just bill the guy afterwards? There are plenty of things in life that you get before paying for them. This should be one of them. What I think is the county found a way to pocket extra money without having to put it anywhere. Did you see the equipment they were using? It sure doesn't look like that money is going back into equipment. So where does that $75 go? I'd love to figure that one out.
BTW, what if the home had belonged to one of the county firefighters and he didn't pay his $75 fee either? Do you honestly think those guys would have stood there like a bunch of dummies? That water would have been flowing within seconds. It would be, "Check the fee paid list?...WHAT fee paid list?"
Sometimes life is black and white. And sometimes we have to learn the hard way that our decisions have consequences.
And what the hell are you talking about the county "pocketing the extra cash?" The county isn't collecting anything. That's why there's no county-wide fire protection, which in turn is why we're even discussing this in the first place.
And what is with all the "what if" scenarios? It's not very complicated: he wanted a service for free, and he didn't get it. And I would hope the firefighters would get their own house put out even if they didn't pay because they're paying much more than just $75 by volunteering their time and risking their lives. So yeah, they damn well ought to put out one of their own houses because the community owes them that much at the very least.
BTW, what if the home had belonged to one of the county firefighters and he didn't pay his $75 fee either? Do you honestly think those guys would have stood there like a bunch of dummies? That water would have been flowing within seconds. It would be, "Check the fee paid list?...WHAT fee paid list?"
Do you really think a firefighter would be stupid enough to not pay a $75 annual fee for fire protection?
You can what if this entire situation to death but it won't change anything.
The sticking point for me is WHY could they not just bill the guy afterwards? There are plenty of things in life that you get before paying for them. This should be one of them. What I think is the county found a way to pocket extra money without having to put it anywhere. Did you see the equipment they were using? It sure doesn't look like that money is going back into equipment. So where does that $75 go? I'd love to figure that one out.
If he didn't pay the $75 fee before his house burned down why would he ever pay a huge fee later if they just billed him? They can't exactly put a lien on his home, you fools would be crying about the fire department saving this man's home just to take it from him months later in court.
I can't even comment about the "county pocketing money" statement you made. How many non-city homes doe you think they sign up for the $75 a year service? Let's say it's 200 which I believe to be a high estimate, that's $15K collected total from out of area residents who want fire protection. $15K won't buy you more a couple fire suits with breathing gear.
Did you call the Calloway County Fire Rescue yet? Need the number?
I don't need the number, I looked them up and saw that the fire department receives large grants and donations from the Murray-Calloway County Fair Association which in turn receives a ton of cash from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Kentucky State Aid to Local Agricultural Fairs Program.
In other words your all volunteer fire department that has opened numerous fire houses and bought many trucks didn't do it selling cupcakes and lemon aid, they did a lot of it with KY tax dollars funneled through different groups.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
