$25,000.00 for 911

[Justanotherbuck2]

WOW, I think I will be checking with our counselor out here to see if Wheatland county has followed the directions of Rockyview. This is shameful!!
http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/famil...970/story.html

[BeeGuy]

Agreed. Shameful.

As if RVM isn't swimming in cash.

[Klondike]

I would have thought insurance would cover that. Hmm I had better take a good look at my home policy.

[ken1989]

Time to get a lawyer. I think the County smells that these people have money and is trying to get some of it. Oh wait, were not these emergency people on payroll and getting paid anyway? Do you need 3 fire chiefs? Fire chiefs pay $100/hr - wow.

[Meow]

Charging for authentic emergencies (ie not false alarms) has been hugely controversial and usually not done because it can put people and property at risk.

This is because if you have a fire, you're thinking.. hey, why risk a $500 or $1000 charge to pay for the FD coming to help.... I can grab the lawn hose, and put it out myself, or grab a few pails of water... or whatever.

That is the last thing any fire department will recommend that you try to put out your own fires.

[BeeGuy]

Looks like our fire halls are cashing in on the insurance business.

The Fire hall bill would not have been an issue had they been insured.

The problem was that they could not 'apparently' get insurance for the buildings....maybe for obvious reasons.

Because the owners could not claim the fire hall expense on their insurance, they are now stuck with the bill.


Where does the blame lay in such a sour circumstance?

It appears as though the fire hall has been opportunistically cashing in on the insurance companies willingness to cover their (the fire halls) 'expense'.

I could understand that if my neighbour used his pump truck and tractor to help control the blaze for 12 hrs that he would be justified in adding his expenses to the insurance claim,

however, if the fire hall is funded through taxes collected by the Municipality, then they are double dipping by getting secondarily payed out through fire insurance premiums.

of course i have no idea what Im talking about. i only read the article

[ken1989]

Suppose you are having a backyard BBQ or open pit wiener roast and a neighbor sees or small smoke and calls 911 thinking that there is a fire. Would one expect a bill?

[FishingMOM]

The media attention has caused the government to reverse the decision to bill the Hixt family.

[Tundra Monkey]

The Fire Response Bill was just under 12K for our house.

Basically for equipment used and hours of work. OT for the guys that came in from off shift. If memory serves me correctly there was approx. 35 that responded. 7 hrs of active firefighting. Actively fighting it 32 minutes after the initial call.

There was no charge for the Chief although he was there right away.

Our insurance policy stated that, "if you are calling the Fire Department to protect items insured within' this policy, we will reimburse you the cost."

Their statement doesn't say how fast they will reimburse it....been over a month now

I would highly suggest that you all [B]read your insurance policy[B] this weekend. The majority of policies out there do not cover this.

You can wind up with a healthy sized bill at a time when you truly do not need it.

I'm not sure if you would get a bill if "your neighbour" called......that could get interesting

You could always call a fuel truck