Fire service insanity, rears its ugly head...

[PRPGfirerescuetech]

[web:f7137c1bfe]http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2006/02/16/1446950-ap.html[/web:f7137c1bfe]

[Ghettomedic351]

I live 45 minutes from the area in this article, seems to me the dues paying thing is a bit outta date. I will say though that you cannot expect a whole lot out of a county that does not even have 911 service. I work on the ambulance in the very same county and if someone has an emergency they call the station directly. I would estimate that they are at least 20 years behind the times. Perhaps it is time for them to become a fire protection district and start collecting tax money like most others in the state of Missouri. When I first started in the fire service the first department I was on collected dues as well, however we never failed to fight a fire. This is an outdated practice and needs to be modified if not stopped.

[Just Plain Ruff]

This is just plain wrong. The fire fighters were already there. Why not fight the fire.

Then bill the guy afterward.

I wonder how many monett fire fighters pay dues? Or do they get it for free if their house burns down.

Dues based fire fighting is woefully out of date and needs to be changed. I'd send the bill to the fire department or take the dues thing to court. If you aren't told about dues then how are you supposed to know.

I too used to work in a county without 911 except for the major city of 5500 people. The rest of the county paid long distance to call Emergency services.

If someone called 911 in the county it was routed across county lines into neighboring henry county and sometimes there were the same addresses so Henry county would respond only to realize it was in Bates County.

It's F'd up if you ask me.

[Ace844]

[JakeEMTP]

I wonder how many monett fire fighters pay dues? Or do they get it for free if their house burns down.

Of course the don't pay Ruffems. They are card carrying members of " The good ol' boys club"

On a serious note, How is it possible for any public service agency to stand idly by and watch, in this case, a fire and not do anything? Regardless if the person paid his dues or not, FF fight fires. I would have thought they would have jumped at the chance to use their skills. If anything, they could have used the practice since how many real fires do they get called for?

I know nothing of this area and this dept. but I talk to some FF's who are in my class. They are of the opinion that fire fighting as a whole has almost " fire preventioned " itself out of work, with new building codes and extensive advertising campaigns. This was an excellent opportunity to use what they train for, or do they all go back to the station house in their wanker-mobiles, drink coffee and ask each other, " damn, that one done burned up good huh?"

[Just Plain Ruff]

Does anyone know of the legal ramifications of this? They were there and they did nothing. That's outrageous.

What about car fires. Oh your license plate doesn't have the tag on it so you are out of luck. Burn baby burn

What a bunch of morons. Perfect chance to put their skills(if any) to work and practice.

[SWVAEMT]

On a serious note, How is it possible for any public service agency to stand idly by and watch, in this case, a fire and not do anything? Regardless if the person paid his dues or not, FF fight fires. I would have thought they would have jumped at the chance to use their skills. If anything, they could have used the practice since how many real fires do they get called for?

I doubt that anyone on scene had any input whatsoever in the decision as to whether or not to fight that fire. Most likely, the decision came straight from town hall and the town council is probably loving this because people in the area are likely lining up to pay "membership dues" while the fire dept. takes the heat.

[JakeEMTP]

I doubt that anyone on scene had any input whatsoever in the decision as to whether or not to fight that fire. Most likely, the decision came straight from town hall and the town council is probably loving this because people in the area are likely lining up to pay "membership dues" while the fire dept. takes the heat.

I sincerely hope that isn't the case. I would hope the town council would want to protect their taxpaying citizens. however, I have also been called the eternal optimist.

[csr]

I don't see what the fuss is all about. It was not a publice service but a private, subscriber service. The Fire Department sells memberships. It's no different than a private security service refusing to respond and secure a store or home that didn't have an account with the Security Company.

The town council or town hall, if there is even one in the area, would have no say over any private service. The article stated that it was in a very rural area and another poster here who works the area has told us the place doesn't even have 911 service. What we have here is a private Fire Brigade that is funded by dues paying members.

Yes the fire department could have put out the fire and then charged the homeowner. But like many private ambulance services, it's often difficlult to get the money after the service has already been provided. If the private fire company in this story had offered residents the option of paying AFTER a fire then money for equiptment and training may not have been available. It's the homeowners and business who pay and don't need the service that keep the company in the black. Like an insurance company.

Like buying insurance, the homeowner can't simply do without until his home catches fire then dial State Farm and ask for a policy to cover his home which is burning. The fire company stood by and assured that none of it's subscribers were threatened just as a private security company would post a guard at a subscriber business to protect that particular location.

Don't blame the private Fire Department for not acting. They were well within their rights. Blame the homeowner for not finding out about the services in his area and preparing ahead of time. He is probably the type of person who moves into a community and doesn't take the time to attend City Council meetings, civic association functions, community meetings or read the local weekly newspaper. Then blame the citizens for not forming a public fire district and funding a fire department with public tax monies. They are the ones who have decided that this is the type of system they wish to have. When they, the citizens, decide it's time for something different then it will happen. Until then ...

You get the services you pay for.

[PRPGfirerescuetech]

I don't see what the fuss is all about. It was not a publice service but a private, subscriber service. The Fire Department sells memberships. It's no different than a private security service refusing to respond and secure a store or home that didn't have an account with the Security Company.

The town council or town hall, if there is even one in the area, would have no say over any private service. The article stated that it was in a very rural area and another poster here who works the area has told us the place doesn't even have 911 service. What we have here is a private Fire Brigade that is funded by dues paying members.

Yes the fire department could have put out the fire and then charged the homeowner. But like many private ambulance services, it's often difficlult to get the money after the service has already been provided. If the private fire company in this story had offered residents the option of paying AFTER a fire then money for equiptment and training may not have been available. It's the homeowners and business who pay and don't need the service that keep the company in the black. Like an insurance company.

Like buying insurance, the homeowner can't simply do without until his home catches fire then dial State Farm and ask for a policy to cover his home which is burning. The fire company stood by and assured that none of it's subscribers were threatened just as a private security company would post a guard at a subscriber business to protect that particular location.

Don't blame the private Fire Department for not acting. They were well within their rights. Blame the homeowner for not finding out about the services in his area and preparing ahead of time. He is probably the type of person who moves into a community and doesn't take the time to attend City Council meetings, civic association functions, community meetings or read the local weekly newspaper. Then blame the citizens for not forming a public fire district and funding a fire department with public tax monies. They are the ones who have decided that this is the type of system they wish to have. When they, the citizens, decide it's time for something different then it will happen. Until then ...

You get the services you pay for.

Stop, because your wrong on, i dont know...a dozen points or so.

Are you aware that only 2 insurance companies will pay for fire supression services? Oh and, by the way, neither are state farm.

The fire service has attempted time and time again to establish themselves as a billable entity in the public safety realm. It continues not to work. Why? Because in any volunteer department, your financial operations outlay is minimal, for general services.

There are a few issues with this.

EMS has a duty to act for ALL 911 dispatched calls. Period. You cannot walk into a house and extend your hand to the 80 year old patient with chest pain and ask for 350 cash, or credit card. *Swipe* "thank you for using Visa Mr. Johnson, heres your Nitro"

It doesnt, and can't happen.

Any municipality has the responsibility to provide or contract with a service to provide all aspects of the public safety response. Police, fire, and EMS.

Police doesnt ask for payment before arresting your robber, EMS can't ask for payment before treatment, and fire cannot and should not be asking for "dues" before action to service the community.

Think about it, put the same system in the lower class neighborhood in the inner city. We would lose half of the major cities, billing people who cant pay? Ridiculous. The public safety community needs to be able to provide service to all members of its response district, regardless of its ability to pay.

Provision of Emergency services, funding issues, and operating costs are not the responsibility of the general public, but the responsibility of township and city managers, and emergency services administrators. Operating costs are not the responsibility of the fire service at the scene of a working fire.