What gets me is that the fire department responded and were standing there watching the fire while the home burned to the ground. It isn’t like they were busy in some other part of the city putting out another fire. They could have doused the fire, saved the house and then charged the home owner for the cost as Jcleaver suggests. The guy was in a pinch and probably would have payed double/triple the amount on the spot to save his home. Now he'll probably go on some government assistance program and the tax payer will take the hit which no doubt will cost more than $75.