Firefighters watched a house burn down

[de-evoproject]

Ok i'm not a big social person and really don't care for most human beings but i do have a odd sense of trying to be a good person and acting noble and with courage and integrity.

I agree that what the firefighters did was legally right and the guy should have paid his bill on time. Its true they were not obligated to put the guy's house out. They didn't do anything wrong, persay.

However, i don't think i could pass by someone who was really in dire need, know that i have the ability to help them and just do nothing. Its not in me. Although i am not religious at all, i grew up in a Southern Baptist family and remember being taught in church to help your fellow man (something about if he is naked, clothe him; hungry, feed him; asks you to walk a mile go 2, etc) and it stuck with me as just the right thing to do. No expectation of payment, just doing "the right thing".

I apply this thinking to an oath i took ("...against all enemies, foreign and domestic..."). Now technically, my contract ended 3 years ago so i'm not obligated to do crap. But in the event where a situation arose that i knew i had the ability to do something, I would. Simply because my morals wouldn't allow me not too.

Now i don't think these firemen are "evil" or "morally corrupt". But i do think its sad that we as a people feel no obligation to help our fellow man on account of a few green slips of cotton paper.

 

[338Shooter]

Being a good samaritan means using your hose to help fight the fire. Not using someone else's hose to put it out. Who is going to pay for the upkeep of the hose if they use it to put out everyone's fires? When the hose breaks then no one will be able to have their fire put out by it, namely the people that paid for it.

 

[MaddSkillz]

Sucks to be that guy.

 

[vvvvvvv]

For those who think that the department should have gone ahead and fought the fire because the homeowner agreed to pay "whatever the cost" on the 911 call, that "agreement" is not as sound as one might think.

Sure, it could easily be construed as a verbal agreement with the fire department to provide services, and thereby obligating the fire department to fight the fire. However, when it comes time to collect the bill, the homeowner's attorney will be able to claim economic duress because there was not a viable alternative party to enter into an agreement with at that time.

 

[elwoodtrix]

What were the FF's responses? response time? Maybe the house was too engulfed with flames to even try to put it out, or the equipment they had wasn't able to put it out... Did they have an Fire engine or just a friggin water truck..

 

[trickydick]

The sad part to all of this is that, as previously stated, these local fire departments are state funded to some extent, and they do recieve federal grants and even some if not most of "their" equipment is passed down from other city fire departments and such. IMO they're a bunch of azzholes for letting this guy's house burn down especially after he said he would pay.

 

[liliysdad]

He didnt pay for the last two years, and even told the news "I figured they would put it out anyway."

My give a crap is all run out.

 

[BadgeBunny]

He didnt pay for the last two years, and even told the news "I figured they would put it out anyway."

My give a crap is all run out.

Somehow I missed this little tidbit of information. Any sympathy I had for the guy is dead and gone now.

Like I said before,

Pay your bills ... on time ...

Seems pretty simple to me.

 

[Bill of Rights]

I won't pass judgement on either side, but what kind of municipal system is set up this way? If your state and local tax dollars are not going to police, fire, and the other basic services, what are they going toward? I understand optional services for things like trash collection, but the fire dept? Sounds like a lousy system.

Besides, what if I rent an apartment and it catches fire, are they going to spray all the apartments around mine, and let mine burn? Doesn't make sense.

Bad system, that's all I'm saying.

 

[dcmtex]

I don't disagree you need to pay your bills on time but it takes a special kind of person to stand around and watch someone's possessions burn up. I couldn't do it. Thats the bottom line in my opinion.