Return of the Gilded Age -- Fire Edition

Anyone out there seen Gangs of New York? Remember the fire-fighting scene? Well, with help from the Republicans, the anarchy and lawlessness of the private fire company is making an encore performance here in 'Merika.

A person could be forgiven for thinking that there is absolutely nothing that the lunatic fringe won't try and privatize. We have mercenaries doing the work of soldiers, we have outsourced public education to greedy startup companies with terrible standards, and now we're even trying to revive the failed experiment of the private fireman.

SAN DIEGO - After the Great Fire of London in 1666, insurance companies started issuing plaques to show private fire brigades which homes to save--and which to let burn. Insurers organized their own firefighting companies. Not having a plaque didn’t mean your home went totally ignored, but it certainly didn’t help.

Today, a decline in public funding for firefighting services has sparked explosive growth in the private sector. The world’s largest insurance company – American Insurance Group – now has “Wildfire Protection Units” in 150 US zip codes. During the 2007 California wildfires, AIG’s firefighters saved homes in wealthy areas, while less fortunate neighbors were left with rubble. A trade group for private firefighters founded in 2000 now represents 10,000 private firemen.

It's just a step removed from the mafia, isn't it? How long until they'll start a fire if you don't pay?

But wait, you ask, surely this is just a service you can purchase on top of existing public firefighters. Surely nobody would try to get rid of, you know, the people who keep us all from dying in flames, right?

Wrong again.

The history of private firefighting is rife with controversy, and historians disagree on whether private firefighters have deliberately avoided protecting homes other than those insured. Last year, San Diego’s City Council approved a ballot initiative aimed at privatizing some city services. But critics contend privatization could lead to problems such as Philadelphia encountered, when fire hydrants froze due to lack of maintenance.

And what happens when the only firefighters in town are private, get two calls, and one is from a Super Platinum Deluxe Customer?

I bet you can guess.

Meanwhile the right grinds on, trying to destroy all vestiges of workers' rights, unionization, and basically decent government of any kind.

In 2005, a media strategist for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s told campaign donors of a plan to promote a `phenomenon of anger’ aimed at turning California voters against firefighters and other public employee union members to help pass ballot initiatives aimed at breaking up public unions and, perhaps, support privatization of firefighting and other public services.

Source: Raw Story
The Associated Press
The New York Times