Burn, baby, burn!

Texas recently cut funding for volunteer fire departments by 75% as a cost-saving measure. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 71 percent of firefighters in the United States are volunteers.

Today local volunteer firefighters, were completely overmatched, as they tried to protect homes outside Bastrop, a town of 6,000 residents about 30 miles east of Austin.

The Texas situation is reminiscent of another case in Tennessee in which people who lived in a rural county had an option to pay for fire service. One man "forgot" to pay the fee and the fire department let his home burn to the ground.

Firefighters in rural Tennessee let the home burn to the ground last because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75 fee.

Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions in the Sept. 29, 2010 fire along with family pets.

The Republican tax cult has gotten the public so obsessed with cutting taxes that vital services such as fire have been cut back in the Red States. Unlike the police, fire departments are mostly made up of volunteers and in Texas funds for volunteer firemen were cut to balance the budget. 

Gov. Rick Perry is trying to blame the fire situation in his state on the federal government. He is the same governor who threatened that Texas might secede. Perhaps Perry should call Mexico for help.

source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-texas-fires-20110907,0,2309971.story

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/t/no-pay-no-spray-firefighters-let-home-burn/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_fire_department

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