Firefighters watch Missouri Man fight fire... business burns down...

[slpybear the bullfan]

Talk about your Bizarre incidents!

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Missouri Firefighters Refuse to Help Non-Member


Updated: 02-16-2006 09:54:09 PM

The Associated Press

Rural firefighters stood by and watched a fire destroy a garage and a vehicle because the property owner had not paid membership dues.

Bibaldo Rueda - who was injured battling the flames Monday - offered to pay the dues as the fire blazed away, but the Monett Rural Fire Department does not have a policy for on-the-spot billing, Sheriff's Detective Robert Evenson said.

Fire Chief Ronnie Myers defended the no-pay, no-aid policy, saying the membership-based organization could not survive if people thought the department would respond for free. The department said it will fight a fire without question if a life is believed to be in danger.

Rueda used a garden hose and buckets to fight the flames while firefighters stood by on the road, watching in case the blaze spread to neighboring properties owned by members. The fire eventually burned itself out.

Rueda said no one told him about the dues policy when he moved in 1 1/2 years ago.


http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?sectionId=46&id=47627
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[District303aPastPlayer]

wow...

[lepfan]

What happened to help thy neighbor? What goes around comes around (when you least expect it)!

[Phantom Stang]

I wonder if these folks paid any dues.:rolleyes:


Home makeover begins with a burst of flames

Trisha Yearwood drops by to entertain campers as fire devours Teases' home.

Tresa McBee
NEWS-LEADER

PURDY — Seven departments, 50 firefighters, all volunteers. The house would burn.

After a week of hurried preparation, intense cooperation and hours of waiting Thursday, the rural fire departments around Camp Barnabas in Purdy torched the home of camp owners Cyndy and Paul Teas.


Reliable Imports
It was a controlled burn, of course. The Teases' 29-year-old home is being made over by ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

But instead of merely bulldozing the structure, the show's crew opted for a bonfire. Everyone is, after all, at summer camp.

The Teases received official word Wednesday that they had been selected for the show after being nominated by Cyndy's niece a year ago. The couple and their two adult children are vacationing for the week while thousands of people work non- stop to build a new home for the duo who founded Camp Barnabas in Barry County 10 years ago for special-needs children.

ANOTHER SURPRISE

The adage about TV is true: You rush around to wait so you can wait some more.

After hours and hours of waiting — during which the assembled campers and counselors sang songs to break the monotony — the house finally went up after 9 p.m., aided by bales of hay, pieces of corrugated cardboard brought inside earlier and holes punched in the upstairs floor to create airflow.

As the flames crackled, red-hot embers soared high and dark smoke billowed, the TV show's design team, including star Ty Pennington, rushed into the crowd of campers to film. What they said didn't carry through the humid air, but the crowd cheered several times.

A little while later, country singer Trisha Yearwood showed up to perform to more cheers.

Yearwood wasn't aware of Camp Barnabas until "Extreme Makeover" called asking her to sing.

"When I read about the camp, it was sort of a no-brainer," the singer said as she rushed to catch a plane after patiently posing for photos and signing autographs.

The show didn't request a specific song, but Yearwood knew the perfect one — "Standing Out in a Crowd," a lesser-known track off her new album.

"It's all about embracing all the things about you that make you different."

Yearwood wants to know more about Camp Barnabas.

"Now that I've come, I hope I can come back. Maybe stay a day."

FIREFIGHTERS READY

TheMonett Rural Fire Department didn't get much notice that "Extreme Makeover" wanted its help, said Capt. Kevin Litchfield.

Pulling together seven fire departments and getting the state permits on short notice isn't easy, but the controlled burn is a great opportunity for firefighters to train, he said.

"This is going to be pretty good task," said Capt. David Shaner of the Monett department as firefighters tended to last-minute details. "It's going to be difficult, but we've trained, trained, trained."

Protecting surrounding structures and preventing foliage from also burning is necessary, so firefighters used a curtain wall of water to keep the flames contained.

At the ready when the fire started were 10,000 to 12,000 gallons of water, with more available.

"We're very prepared," said Stacy Cloud, a firefighter with the Monett department and the only woman among the crews.

Many late nights were required, Litchfield said, but he thought the exercise would pull the departments closer together.

Besides, Cloud said, the effort is well worth it to benefit Camp Barnabas.

It also didn't hurt that Pennington signed the back of her T-shirt.

www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050819/NEWS01/508190375

[mrescape43]

I have been in the fire service for 22 years and I HATE to hear about something like this happening. The bad thing is everyone in these districts know that they need to pay but there is always a few who will try to get by without paying their part.

[slpybear the bullfan]

mrescape... I had never heard of contract departments like this... I always assumed there were just Municipals and VFDs and everyone got taken care of.... I guess I learned something.

[mrescape43]

The only ones I have heard of are in the Northeastern US. I don't think that there are very many like this. I believe that they are called subscription fire districts.

[Rabbit'93]

IMO he deserves it. It's kinda like car or home insurance. You don't like payin it until you need it. He should have paid like everyone else.

[lepfan]

Originally posted by Rabbit'93
IMO he deserves it. It's kinda like car or home insurance. You don't like payin it until you need it. He should have paid like everyone else. If you were the fire chief...and your parents had not paid their dues...would you refuse to have your guys spray their house?????

[3afan]

Originally posted by Rabbit'93
IMO he deserves it. It's kinda like car or home insurance. You don't like payin it until you need it. He should have paid like everyone else.

man, thats harsh ... you gotta have car insurance to get a license, ya gotta have home insurance to get a mortgage - who ever heard of having to pay for fire protection besides normal taxes ........... it is very conceivable the guy didnt know - i had never heard of paying "dues" for fire protection

[lepfan]

Originally posted by 3afan
man, thats harsh ... you gotta have car insurance to get a license, ya gotta have home insurance to get a mortgage - who ever heard of having to pay for fire protection besides normal taxes ........... it is very conceivable the guy didnt know - i had never heard of paying "dues" for fire protection I am with you...it kind of reminds me of what is going on in my hometown right now. It seems there are two nightclubs there...one is never bothered, but the other one always has cops trolling the parking lot/inside floor and arresting patrons walking around (for what ever the reason). It seems one "pays dues" for their protection.:rolleyes: I know it is different circumstances but IMO they can relate...

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by lepfan
If you were the fire chief...and your parents had not paid their dues...would you refuse to have your guys spray their house?????

no. . .

[lepfan]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
no. . . I think it would not matter to most...I know be it friend or foe...I could not refuse help.

[Highschoolfan78]

nm