Any firefighters please feel free to chime in:

If I recall correctly, putting out a fire in a house only prevents it from burning to the ground, right? The damage is still done. The house may be "totaled" as it were depending on the response time and distance.. Another concern for the fire fighter is to keep the fire from spreading to adjacent/nearby structures. Is that a correct assumption? If so, does that person get protection if they did not pay the fee?

Man, does this thing get twisted quickly or what?

Final note: Is there a jurisdictional question on this issue with the guy?