It's not a matter of morals or money, when firefighters let a house burn down

[DetlefK]

They reacted, when the fire finally spread to the neighbors lot.

What if there were people trapped inside the house?
What if there were gas or explosives inside the house?
What if they had dangerous chemicals inside their house, leading to poisonous smoke?
What if their yard were full of dry grass and the fire would spread to the neighbors?
What if there were dry bushes and trees in their yard, so the wind could spread sparks and burning leaves over the whole area?
What if their burning house were at the edge of town, causing a wildfire?

[Turbineguy]

1. Libertarians just need to find out

that they are re-inventing the flat tire.

The insurance may very well not pay and the bank can call in the mortgage.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Welcome to Galt-i-stan

and we'll be hearing from some of its upstanding automatons Rand-bots sociopathic specimens citizens in about 3, 2,...

[depakid]

4. We may not agree on some things, but on this destructive tendency we're probably peas in a pod

Galtistan indeed.

These are the same sorts of folks that Reagan conned years ago- and who if Reagan had had his way, would have been cheering for airbags to have been expensive options, rather than standard equipment that saves their lives.

It "personal responsibility" and "choice" -that trumps everything.

[Trekologer]

9. The Republicans are always punting it to a lower level

GOOPers in Congress say something is not a power of the Federal government and should be handled by the state. State GOOPers say it isn't a state issue and should be handled by the local governments. Local GOOPers say it is a case of personal responsibility.

[RC]

3. This was nothing more than an example of the consequence of the utopia that some envision.

This is what happens when "Private business can do it better and cheaper". Sure they can. That $75 dollars should have come out of taxes. Republican thing run amuck.

[Monique1]

5. I heard on Ed's show

3 dogs and a cat died in the fire. :(

[stray cat]

6. Like thinking you don't have to pay for health insurance and should not be required to

But still want help when you need it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Some questions are already answered

What if there were people trapped inside the house? They would respond. See http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/More-fallout-following-house-fire-104113489.html

What if there were gas or explosives inside the house? It would depend on how close people were, I'd think. Evacuating people would be the priority; having done that, they might well decide it's too risky to keep the firefighters close to a hazard like that to fight it, even if there was no dispute about the payment.

What if they had dangerous chemicals inside their house, leading to poisonous smoke? Then, assuming the smoke would be enough to affect neighbours, and they had breathing apparatus, perhaps they'd try to extinguish it, because it would be a health hazard to people. The owners would probably get sued for keeping dangerous chemicals, of course. And any company that has dangerous chemicals and doesn't follow the local rules for dealing with fires would deserve to be sued out of business.

What if their yard were full of dry grass and the fire would spread to the neighbors? Which is the exact situation here. The grass fire that started on the homeowner's property (after a barrel fire the family started got out of control) spread first to their own house, then to their neighbour's property. The dept came to put it out when it reached the neighbour's property. It would have been more efficient to put it out earlier.

I think the rest of the questions are fairly similar to that last one. Yes, fires are better dealt with on a communal basis. It is an idiotic county council. I tend to think the fire dept should have put out the fire, and charged the owner a large sum (say $10,000 - 133 years' premium, but how often does a house burn down?) to cover the costs, and tell him to try to recoup it from his insurance company.

[seabeyond]

8. what if a county votes to pay subscription, doesnt and demand service?

does the city them raise cost to tax payers to cover a county that is not even a part of city, giving them free service?

[fasttense]

10. This is what happens when you privatize government functions.

The fire department, only interested in making money, lets a families home burn to the ground and allows all their pets to be burnt alive while they watch.

And the cost to the fire department was more than if they had put out the fire in the 1st place. First they had to get a fire break built behind the man's house to prevent the back corn field from catching fire. Then they had to come out anyway to put out the fire on the lawn of the neighbor's house. The costs of those two actions was probably more than the cost of putting out the small initial fire by the home when it first started.

But this is how profits fog the mind. They think they are saving money by not having to put out a flame. But the flame spreads and costs more in the long run to put out.

Just like health insurance. They think they are saving money by letting people die from diseases but in the long run, the disease spreads and may even kill the people in the insurance corporation.

Stupidity seems to have no limits when it comes to privatization and corporations.

[Toots]

11. I grew up in the country more than a half century ago and all the neighbors formed a volunteer fire

Everybody pitched in a little, at least for the beer for the meetings.. No one would have EVER thought of letting someone's house burn. It simply was not the American thing to do..

[Doctor_J]

12. Next up: Subscription police service

then subscription road usage. welcome to Republican Utopia - no taxes at all