[Previous entry: "Bicycle riding robot unveiled."] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Super red blood cells created."]
10/06/2005 Entry: "The "ownership society" strikes again."
The "ownership society" strikes again. Wow, this is inexcusable. A man who did not pay a 25 dollar fire protection tax lost his home when it caught on fire.
"You either buy it or you don't have it," said Don Billig, the association's secretary.
International Falls, Minn."You buy the fire protection up here, and you have it," Billig said.
However, Fire Chief Jerry Jensen said, "It's not the way we're trained. It's just wrong. ... My job is to put out fires, not to watch them burn, [and] I don't want this to happen again."
But it has happened before, and it might again because for two years the city, county and the fire association have been unable to agree on costs of replacing the voluntary fee with a property tax levy that would fund fire protection for everyone.
The Fire Department poured enough water on Berg's structure -- a mobile home and enclosed porch -- to put the fire out temporarily and make sure everyone was safe.
But when firefighters were called back later, they let the rekindled blaze destroy the building's remains.
