They were charged for every firefighter and truck

Nov 11, 2013 10:42 GMT  ·  By

A couple from Arizona have had their home burnt down to the ground, just after having a baby. Now the fire department is asking them $20,000 (€15,000) for the work done on the house.

According to the Huffington Post, the service on Justin Purcell's residence was performed by a private fire department.

Justin and his wife, Kasia, had their home in Surprise, Maricopa County, burnt down on August 12. Thankfully, they were not at home and it took them 45 minutes to get there after being called by a neighbor.

As they arrived, the Rural Metro Fire Department were already there and they were putting out the blaze. They were not able to rescue the building.

The Purcells had to pay $1,500 (€1,000) per fire truck and $150 (€100) per working hour for firefighters, even though they contribute to the city budget for emergency services.

The home insurance company cannot cover the bill, and a spokesperson for Rural Metro describes that such bills are only paid by those who do not have an annual plan with them.

The Purcells argue that they have never been asked to subscribe. None of their neighbors are listed with the private fire department, which has just recently started covering their area.

"Coincidentally, we all received a bill from Rural Metro fire informing us we have no fire coverage in our area, so they highly suggested we finally begin paying some fire coverage that we didn't currently have," neighbor, Kelly Miller, describes.

"They weren't even the first responders. We arrived 45 minutes after the fire started, and it was pretty much extinguished by Surprise. Rural Metro showed up after we were already there. They basically did a mop-up - saturated the hotspots with water," Justin Purcell adds.