Firefighters Let House Burn Down For Lack Of Payment

[Tyyr]

And in this case it's Tennessee. You might be a mile away in a direct line but the road to get there is five miles long because it has to snake through the mountains and hills and because of the grade and sharp curves you're never going more than 30 miles an hour.

I spend a lot of vacations in rural Tennessee.

[Deepcrush]

The problem in Tennessee is that the FDs aren't just fire departments in the normal sense. Most are volunteer units which means that at first you have to call your FFs, then they have to drive to the station then they can respond to the issue. As Tyyr said, it can take up to an hour to get the FD to respond. Most rural counties only operate a single Fire Station. Around two dozen persons and four engines. That means if the full timers aren't already on a call then you still might have to wait half an hour for them to arrive.

I have two cousins out in Tennessee who work for the FD (one FF, one EMT) and this is a constant problem for them. That and funding as several of the full timers not only live in the stations but so do their families since they can't afford homes of their own. Some of the stations are built huge with this in mind lucky enough and are pretty damn nice to be honest. The only way to fix the issue is to raise taxes on everyone or just charge a fee for those willing to wait a long time for help to come.

[Sionnach Glic]

I'm not sure how funding the Fire Department from taxes isn't going to work when, to all intents and purposes, they're already doing just that. Simply have that $75 as part of the standard yearly tax. Now not only is it far more convenient for the citizens (since everything is paid in one sum), but since everyone will be paying it, the Fire Brigade gets a greater amount in funding and we get to avoid incidents like in the OP. Problem solved.

[Mikey]

From an effect on the homeowner, it's the same - but not from the standpoint of the funded FD. You could have taxed this guy an extra $1,000,000 if you wanted, but he'd be paying it to his municipality. The FD is outside that locality, and wouldn't get dime one. The fee is in place because the folks who are assessed it are outside the tax base of the FD.

[Tyyr]

I'm not sure how funding the Fire Department from taxes isn't going to work when, to all intents and purposes, they're already doing just that. Simply have that $75 as part of the standard yearly tax. Now not only is it far more convenient for the citizens (since everything is paid in one sum), but since everyone will be paying it, the Fire Brigade gets a greater amount in funding and we get to avoid incidents like in the OP. Problem solved.

Because there are different levels of government on this side of the pond.

1) Not all the residents want to pay for fire service which means that guys like Cranik are going to be unlikely to vote for you if you promise to do just that. Some people see no value in fire department coverage. If you live miles from the city even if the fire department did "cover" you it might not matter anyways. Your house would be burned to the foundation before they ever showed up. So why pay for it?

2) Which city gets to pick up all the slack? Counties often have more than one city in them and can be quite large. Since city government and county government are separate the two, or more, entities would all have to negotiate a deal amongst them. Hell, I'm not even sure if its legal for taxes collected by the county to be paid to the city (could vary from state to state).

The most likely outcome of all this isn't some sweeping change that brings fire coverage to all. More than likely the city will just stop offering it period.