This seems cold, but if it didn't work this way, then why would anyone ever pay the $75 ahead of time? For the fire department to be able to afford to keep existing without that, an after-the-fact fee would probably have to be tens of thousands of dollars, which I assume people would find just as cold.

The homeowner was ready to pay whatever at the time. It would seem to be just good business to offer right-now service at a price that reflects that this had moved from insurance to rescue, high enough to make anyone wish they'd paid for the insurance.

I wonder if the law would allow that, or if the contract would be void as entered into under duress. "My house is buring down" seems like a pretty clear duress scenario in the vernacular sense of the word. But searching around it seems that in contract law duress involves some action by the other party, like a threat.

Or they could force everyone to pay, through taxes, and then you don't need to worry if your neighbour didn't pay as that could put you at greater risk.