I don't agree with it and I am sure the fire fighters were really having to hold back on this.
Think of it this way, what if they had done something with him not paying the fee? This is whole situation is a damned if you do and damned if you don't deal.
If the guy would have payed the dumb fee this would have never made it past the headline of "House Fire" in the local paper.
Sorry this MBA class has me analyzing everything now