The new segregation of America

[sigma7]

Yes, the rich are different than the rest of us.

A private fire crew dispatched by a national insurance company that caters to wealthy clients is guarding 22 high-end homes threatened by the Castle Rock Fire, a blaze that has forced the evacuation of hundreds of million-dollar homes west of Ketchum.

The crew will protect only homes insured by AIG Private Client Group, an insurance company that offers "loss-prevention services" to its wealthiest customers. A truck and two-man crew sent by AIG from Montana arrived in Ketchum about 2 p.m. Wednesday to start dousing properties with Phos-Chek, the same fire retardant dropped from U.S. Forest Service aircraft.

"We're not going out there to fight the fire," said Dorothy Sarna, vice president and national director of risk-management services and loss prevention for the New York-based company. "We're out there to protect our clients."

Comments

[begstodiffer.livejournal.com]

Well, they're a private business working for AIG, not a volunteer or public fire department. It's not like there's a law saying that the rich get better public services than the rest of us. The rich are different from the rest of us in the sense that they have the resources to hire a private fire crew just for them. People can also hire private police departments just to guard their properties. We refer to security guards as rent-a-cops, don't we?

I'm more interested in the question of why the local government is providing insufficient public fire service, to the point that people will hire private contractors if they have the means. (I think many people would if they could). That's not a great return on the tax dollar.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

And thus, the original style of fire department shows up again. Fire departments used to be all subscription services, with non-subscribers left to grab neighbors and buckets.

And, frankly, some of those brush fires are better off being left to burn naturally...decades of excessive preventative firefighting has been building up a surplus of kindling.

[daethkow.livejournal.com]

Also, to add to the other comments, Rich moron buys house in wild-fire hazard area. Rich moron also then spends money on "preventative services" for said house (in wild-fire hazard area). Rich moron parts with a little more of his money than he otherwise would have, which flows to AIG, it's stockholders, and most importantly, the two guys with the truck who are doing the grunt work.

In short, the circle of life continues.