According to national statistics ( http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/departments/index.shtm ). Nationally, it's 1,451,500 fires across 30,170 fire stations, for an average of 48 fires per station, per year. My town of 32,000 people pays $6,362,437 for their fire service, and has 4 stations. That's about 200$ per person, on average. If they were charged the 6 million divided by the number of fires per year (200, for this rough estimate) it would be approximately $30,000. So, on the order of tens of thousands of dollars. You really might as well not have the option, as anyone with that kind of cash wouldn't care about the 75$ fee.
I've spent some time in China studying abroad.
During my time there, I made a friend who is a college graduate (Compsci major), that is working an office job earning roughly three times what these sweatshop workers do.
Here's the thing about the numbers: The 65 cents they earn per hour amounts to 5RMB. 5RMB will buy you a bowl of noodles and a beer for lunch. A standard "decent job" (Starbucks, McDonalds) pays about twice that, office jobs 3-4 times more. Aside from housing and entertainment, I generally lived off about 10-20rmb a day during my time in China.
The problems for these kinds of workers trying to "work their way" out of poverty extends further than just wages, though. Getting in to a college takes a lot more than just $, the exams are highly competitive. Your average dawn-to-dusk sweatshop worker doesn't have time to study, can't afford to study, and likely doesn't have much for an educational background.
Some of the American students studying abroad with me in Beijing were so heartbroken by the situation that they started giving free English lessons to the sweatshop workers there. There's just simply not enough resources (schools, job training programs, etc.) available for everyone them to help themselves.
Slashdot Mirror
According to national statistics ( http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/departments/index.shtm ). Nationally, it's 1,451,500 fires across 30,170 fire stations, for an average of 48 fires per station, per year. My town of 32,000 people pays $6,362,437 for their fire service, and has 4 stations. That's about 200$ per person, on average. If they were charged the 6 million divided by the number of fires per year (200, for this rough estimate) it would be approximately $30,000. So, on the order of tens of thousands of dollars. You really might as well not have the option, as anyone with that kind of cash wouldn't care about the 75$ fee.
I've spent some time in China studying abroad. During my time there, I made a friend who is a college graduate (Compsci major), that is working an office job earning roughly three times what these sweatshop workers do. Here's the thing about the numbers: The 65 cents they earn per hour amounts to 5RMB. 5RMB will buy you a bowl of noodles and a beer for lunch. A standard "decent job" (Starbucks, McDonalds) pays about twice that, office jobs 3-4 times more. Aside from housing and entertainment, I generally lived off about 10-20rmb a day during my time in China. The problems for these kinds of workers trying to "work their way" out of poverty extends further than just wages, though. Getting in to a college takes a lot more than just $, the exams are highly competitive. Your average dawn-to-dusk sweatshop worker doesn't have time to study, can't afford to study, and likely doesn't have much for an educational background. Some of the American students studying abroad with me in Beijing were so heartbroken by the situation that they started giving free English lessons to the sweatshop workers there. There's just simply not enough resources (schools, job training programs, etc.) available for everyone them to help themselves.