My thoughts exactly, but consider ... the Local Gov't opted not to do this, and instead made this an optional service that people could chose to have.
It is NOT Gov't job to protect stupid people from committing stupid acts. You are free to be as stupid as you want to be. It is my understanding that the country simply did not have the revenue stream to provide this service.
Except you could anticipate how the bleeding hearts would play this, as they have. This guy will end up suing the
county and probably win. Offering fire service as a voluntary service is just poor judgement.
Well, there's the basic problem.
We don't let people opt out of defense, because it makes no sense to sit back and let invaders and terrorists use non-paying people's land as a staging area. Allowing a fire to have a staging area to build to the point where it spreads to other people's property is just as absurd.