Tennessee family home burns while firefighters watch

[Hal-9000]

I can see if they didn't respond... But to just sit there and watch it burn..?

I initially thought that it was cruel of them to show up....and hang out for awhile

They probably were ensuring that no one was hurt or in danger, which is cool

[FBD]

OK, I'm going to place all other debates aside and post something I considered last night while mulling this over. If I was a fireman, and watched a home burn down, I would never feel quite so good about myself again. It saps some of the nobility of the firefighters cause.[/COLOR]

We love your heart, Joey.

[Godfather]

Ahh fair enough, as long as the fire dept has a policy of helping if someone's life is in danger. Pets should be included under that too


Car insurance is an interesting comparison lance. Up here if you've someone screwed up your insurance (said it was Pleasure use when it was actually for Work purposes for example) the Insurance company can chose to offer you a 10:1 settlement. They'll pay the claim, but you owe them 10x the amount you saved by trying to cheat. That seems more than fair, given they could void your insurance all together

[Deepsepia]

I never had a fee in my rural county...

One of the aspects of government that not many people understand is "who do you get your services from, and how do they get paid?"

Where I live ("unincorporated King County") we're rural, and we get services through the County -- its on our tax bill. Other incorporated towns either provide these services themselves or contract for them with the County, or with neighboring towns.

It all shows up on your property tax bill. The insurance companies would go apeshit if a community decided not to fight fires . . . that's why they responded-- you get a fire starting in property A, ignore it, and it ignites something else, and you have a disaster.

More generally, the Tennessee response is an example of why private choice doesn't work in communal problems. Your "choice" not to pay for fire services doesn't make a fire in your home "safe" for your neighbors who did.

Very few communities make fire, police or ambulance service optional.

[Arkady Renko]

One of the aspects of government that not many people understand is "who do you get your services from, and how do they get paid?"

Where I live ("unincorporated King County") we're rural, and we get services through the County -- its on our tax bill. Other incorporated towns either provide these services themselves or contract for them with the County, or with neighboring towns.

It all shows up on your property tax bill. The insurance companies would go apeshit if a community decided not to fight fires . . . that's why they responded-- you get a fire starting in property A, ignore it, and it ignites something else, and you have a disaster.

More generally, the Tennessee response is an example of why private choice doesn't work in communal problems. Your "choice" not to pay for fire services doesn't make a fire in your home "safe" for your neighbors who did.

Very few communities make fire, police or ambulance service optional.

I absolutely agree, privatizing the bare necessities makes no sense at all. I don't mind these services (except for the cops) to be operated by private companies, but funding and regulations are core tasks for the state.