jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

My niece's house has the boundary line of two towns running through the center. She pays taxes to both towns, but she can vote in only one. She had a grease fire in the kitchen and called the local volunteer fire department - the one where her husband and father were members for years. "You have to call the fire department in the other town." She called them. "You have to call the fire department in the other town." Meanwhile, the fire continued to burn. She called 911 and explained the situation. Both departments showed up. I don't know which one extinguished the fire, but she got a bill for $1,200 (which will remain unpaid) from one of the departments. Funny how things work out, isn't it.

I've heard of lots of houses being located in two towns at once. That's a really stupid situation. My niece's house is over a hundred years old, so it's not like it was intentionally built on the boundary line.

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

Hope the damage was not too bad and was confined to the kitchen or a portion thereof.

Quinn 4

Tell your niece to get a lawyer and don't pay that bill. If one of the fire dept. had got to the house after she made the first call. Fire could have been very little damage.

DAN Phillips Loc: Graysville, GA

Sue both fire departmnets, it should not have happened. There is a thing called 'Mutual Aid' where the depts. Work together for the good of the homeowners.

byjoe Loc: Stillwater, OK

Always one better. Had friend whose front was in one city and back yard was in another. One side yard was in one county and the other side was in a different county. Property tax time was a nightmare.

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

Seems to me I read about one that was on the border of the U.S. and Canada. It may have been in Vermont, I'm not sure.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Worked for a contractor that built a small subdivision on both sides of a street whose center line divided two towns. One side sold out before they were built so he built all of them including the opposite side of the street. The other side sat for almost a year and came close to putting him out of business. He sold the remainder at significantly reduced prices. Reasons were the differences in property taxes and schools. Never will forget the heartbreak it caused him.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Interesting story. I have never met a fireman who refused a call. Firefighters are exceptionally compassionate and caring people, or they were 25 years ago. I don't know what I would have done if my Chief told me not to respond to a fire but I like to think we would have gone without permission. Certainly I would have never worked for him again and a few of my fellows and I would have had a serious, and painful, discussion with him about his immediate resignation. Fire is a terrible thing that kills and destroys people, property and lives in ways too horrible to imagine unless you have experienced it.

For a Fire Department not to respond is beyond belief. For the Chief to have a job the following day or a City Council to have the same members the following week is a travesty. As a firefighter I would have changed my name and moved to another town. I couldn't face the people I was supposed to protect.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

That's unusual to have city lines run through a house, isn't it, Jerry? Doesn't one side of a street usually go to one berg and the other side of the street go to the other berg? How did it happen to run through her house?

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

I have never heard of such a thing happening over here jerry.

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

I have never heard of such a thing happening over here jerry.