I thought my taxes paid for this?

[gallantwarrior]

Guess again! If you don't pay the "fee" levied, you don't get the protection promised. This is what you can expect when government adopts a "pay as you play" policy for services that taxpayers can reasonably expect. Hell, in that case, my water and sewer come from my well and outhouse, and my police protection is a Rottweiler and a shotgun.

Tennessee family home burns while firefighters watch | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

 

[Swagger]

Didn't something similar happen last year? I believe Glenn Beck aired a parody of how he guessed the phone call played out, which was irredeemably insensitive.

But yes, surely the levy of state taxes should go towards covering the bill for all branches of the emergency services, without citizens having to pay a further bill to ensure that the fire department will respond to an emergency?