Photo: DPA

Fire brigade bills fairground ride victims for rescue

Published: 16 Nov 09 12:07 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091116-23303.html

Fourteen people rescued by the fire brigade after being left dangling upside down from a Berlin fairground ride last summer for nearly an hour have been slapped with a hefty bill, a spokesman said Monday.

The thrill-seekers got more than they bargained for when the "Star Gate" ride, a large spinning wheel with rotating gondolas, in Berlin came to a terrifying halt 15 metres (50 feet) above the ground.

Finally saved after 44 long minutes, each person must now pay €281.43 ($420) after their ordeal.

Thorsten W., 39, who was on the ride with his wife and child, told the Bild daily: "We have been punished enough. Our son never wants to go on a carousel
again. And now we have to pay almost €850? Never!"

The operator of the ride refuses to pay because they didn't call the emergency services, and were capable of rescuing the 14 people themselves, Bild said.

"We didn't call the fire brigade ... We didn't need any help, and therefore we will not cover these costs," Ron Agtsch told the paper.

Stefan Fleischer, a spokesman for the Berlin fire service, defended the decision to send out bills, but said that the fire service was now looking into the affair.

"This is not the fire brigade being cheeky or nasty. We performed a service, and ... the people rescued are now being billed," Fleischer told AFP.

He added that the people have the possibility to claim back the costs from their insurance firms, or to sue the operator.

AFP (news@thelocal.de)

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Your comments about this article:

#1
12:39 November 16, 2009 by nycinhamburg
since when do rescue worker/departments charge the victims who are being rescued? Am I missing something here? They needed help, they got it, end of story. Doesn't our tax dollars take care of this?
Report abuse »
#2
13:25 November 16, 2009 by jmjdk
Why are the people on the ride being billed, you would think that the ride operator would be the responsible person for any bill that a rescue would result in, since it was his equipment that left the riders stranded in the first place.

Billing the customers of the ride to put it simply is outrageous.
Report abuse »
#3
13:26 November 16, 2009 by joesjungle
You mean tax euros? LoL

But really, I think it is fair for the emergency services to charge people to recover the cost of fuel. However, the ride operator should pay the costs. Especially if it still took 44 minutes to rescue people from the ride.
Report abuse »
#4
13:31 November 16, 2009 by long-haul
Apparently it looks like the person who called for the emergerncy service is liable. What does this mean? If i come across an accident and am the first person to be at the scene, then i better not call the emergency services? Who knows, if the driver later demands that he was fully capable of rescuing himself even being hit head on at 180km/hr and lying unconscious, then i might be liable to cover the emergency service costs. Needless to say the police, fire brigades, not-arzt etc who arrive at a scene when the windschield is broken due to collission on the highway.
Report abuse »
#5
13:49 November 16, 2009 by dessa_dangerous
I honestly wonder what we pay taxes for. You pay for your library account, exorbitant amount for health insurance and now if you're dying the fire department will bill you til your last breath. Unbelievable.

If they insist on billing SOMEBODY it needs to be the operators. If they could have fixed the problem themselves then why didn't they announce that? Why did it take 44 minutes before they did anything? Presumably they wanted to let the fire department do it and save themselves the hassle.
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#6
13:52 November 16, 2009 by UrbanAngel
I fainted in a club in Munich once and had to pay ca. ?500 for the ambulance to take me to hospital as I couldn't breathe.
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#7
13:56 November 16, 2009 by Small Town Boy
One does often have to pay for an ambulance, but this should be covered by your health insurance. Maybe they'll also cover the fire brigade bill, since hanging upside-down for extended periods of time is generally considered bad for your health.
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#8
14:00 November 16, 2009 by Moonboot
did your health insurance pay the ambulance UA?
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#9
14:01 November 16, 2009 by LancashireLad
You would think our taxes cover it, but they don't for ambulances ... that's why you have health insurance (don't get me wrong, I am condoning neither the fire service or the ride operator). Let's also not forget that those on the ride did not ask to be stranded so how can they be held responsible? They had no control over the situation whatsoever. The ride operator has a duty to make sure that his equipment is safe, so he is (mostly) responsible. Claiming that he could have got the people out himself is inadequate and an obvious attempt to mitigate responsibility. However, what about the TÜV representative that checked the ride before it was opened to the public? Does he/she not also bear some responsibility?
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#10
14:49 November 16, 2009 by Krieg
You pay for the ambulance only if it was not really needed.
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#11
14:52 November 16, 2009 by UrbanAngel
Aye. I still remember the shock though - didn't know that you could be charged for using an ambulance!
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#12
14:56 November 16, 2009 by sarabyrd
The "contract" is between the rescued and the rescue team. The rescued can try to claim the money back from the ride operator but have to prove fault before they see any cash. I hope that they filed criminal charges for physical and mental damages as well as false imprisonment as the prosecutor has to follow up on such claims. Once you have a criminal conviction it is much easier to win a civil claim as well.
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#13
15:02 November 16, 2009 by Expaticus
I remember when a hunter (with the reputation as a bit of a poseur) the next town over from tried to ford a river in his brand-new Land Rover and found himself stuck in the middle of the rapids standing on the roof, car flooded up to the top. The police called in a helo to pluck him off the top, and about two weeks later the guy got a bill for something like EUR 6,000 in Jet A and everyone's time for being such a doofus.

P.S. Next time you're dragged to a carnival, if you're feeling really mean, go to a junkyard and buy yourself a bag of assorted rusty (but not too rusty) nuts and bolts. Go on the ride once, at the end of which toss a few nuts and bolts on the floor, walk a discrete viewing distance away and enjoy the laughs.
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#14
15:05 November 16, 2009 by Krieg
That would be terrorism in this new world.
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#15
15:22 November 16, 2009 by timw
I don't know why everyone is acting so surprised (or shocked), as this is pretty much standard practice in

"sozialstaat Deutschland", as one guy said, the passengers will have to switch in their

"rechtschutzversicherung", and sue the fairground operators to recover their costs

It happens more often than you'd think

only in Germany...........
Report abuse »
#16
15:29 November 16, 2009 by LeonG
In Iceland they regularly have to save some hikers and/or hunters in trouble and although there has been talk of billing people or making it mandatory to get rescue insurance if you want to go into the wild, the rescue squads are against it because they don't want people to not get help when they really need it because they are worrying about the bill. The local rescue squads there are strictly voluntary and fund themselves with various fundraising schemes while the choppers are run by the government. Now that they don't have any money anymore, they might change their minds though. You might have to give your credit card number when you call rescue so they can afford to fuel up the choppers
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#17
17:03 November 16, 2009 by sarabyrd
only in Germany...........
Are you sure?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17466301/Invoice-from-a-Nacogdoches-Volunteer-Fire-Department

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/grants/ruralfire/invoiceform.pdf

http://www.ci.woodland.wa.us/AgendasMinutes/CityCouncil/2008/070708/II%20Fire%20june.pdf (scroll to item no. 5)
Report abuse »
#18
17:06 November 16, 2009 by timw
Are you sure?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17466301/Invoice-from-a-Nacogdoches-Volunteer-Fire-Department

http://files.dnr.state.mn.…
sarcastic retort to the whole "only in America" saying

no need to go into research mode
Report abuse »
#19
17:12 November 16, 2009 by LinsAM
Actually I think councils in the UK can charge also if it as a result of sheer stupidity.... I remember a few years ago there was a story going around about a mate of a mate of a mate who jumped into the Tyne after a few too many shandies for a laugh and was then subsequently taken to court for the cost of the helicopter and rescue team. About 3grand. They could prove it as there was CCTV footage of the guy taking off his clothes before jumping in... 'I was pushed in Guv'nor honest....'
Report abuse »
#20
17:13 November 16, 2009 by poppet
UrbanAngel Aye. I still remember the shock though - didn't know that you could be charged for using an ambulance!
'course you can. A neighbour of ours was rescued a couple of years ago at 'Pfingsten'. He had passed out drunk in the woods and his friends thought he had suffered something serious. The ambulance and the health insurance see such cases as 'self inflicted'. As a 'notarzt' was also in attendance his bill came to almost ?1000.

And then there was the time when a friend of our passed out while climbing on a Scottish island where no overnight stays are allowed (its a nature sanctuary) and there is an absolute alchohol ban. He was rescued by heli (the lifeboat also attended) and his bill was GBP3500. Reason enough to give up the booze I guess.
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#21
17:18 November 16, 2009 by timw
Actually I think councils in the UK can charge also if it as a result of sheer stupidity.... I remember a few years ago there was a story going around…
yeah, sure stupidity is one thing, but you can't tell me that dangling upside down, 15m from the ground for 44 minutes

isn't terrifying enough for the emergency services to get involved.

and the quote from the fire brigade

"This is not the fire brigade being cheeky or nasty. We performed a service, and ... the people rescued are now being billed,"

beggars belief

But it all comes down to money, someone HAS to pay
Report abuse »
#22
17:30 November 16, 2009 by perdido
Stupidity is limited to the human race, in the animal kingdom the natural order of things eliminates this existence.
Report abuse »
#23
17:37 November 16, 2009 by tech71
Well said Perdido.
Report abuse »
#24
17:52 November 16, 2009 by jmjdk
yeah, sure stupidity is one thing, but you can't tell me that dangling upside down, 15m from the ground for 44 minutes

isn't terrif…
Why not the ride operator? He/She left them hanging. It looks as it was clearly the ride operators were at fault that the riders were in the situation that they found themselves in.
Report abuse »
#25
19:47 November 16, 2009 by timw
Why not the ride operator? He/She left them hanging. It looks as it was clearly the ride operators were at fault that the riders were in the situation…
Looks like the operators were a bit more savvy, (maybe they have previous experience ?)

"We didn't call the fire brigade ... We didn't need any help, and therefore we will not cover these costs,"

that this has even come up for discussion is incredible,

14 people dangling 15m up, for 44 minutes - if that isn't worthy of a (fire service) rescue, what is??
Report abuse »
#26
09:06 November 17, 2009 by snorge
Thought government services are paid by citizen taxes??? No need to bill people who pay taxes. Also, who is in charge here? Sound like the ride operator is. They won;t pay for the rescue that stranded people in THEIR ride? And the Fire Brigade justr says "OK - NP we'll bill the riders???" Seems like the government needs to be a little more forceful. I was a Paratrooper in the Army and can safely 45 minutes upside down is not safe for someone with certain medical conditions. I think the ride operator needs to pay, be fined for unsafe equipment and a citation issued to them to have the equipment inspected.
Report abuse »
#27
13:19 November 17, 2009 by sarabyrd
As mentioned before, the chain of cause and responsiblity surely can be followed back to the ride operator but that is not the fire department's task. A calls fire department, fire department comes, rescues A, bills A, end of chain for fire department. A can claim compensation from the ride operator, the fire department doesn't give a rat's ass. Don't confuse contract law with moral conviction.

P.S. Fire departments are not government organisations, they are communal.
Report abuse »
#28
19:14 November 18, 2009 by snorge
As mentioned before, the chain of cause and responsibility surely can be followed back to the ride operator but that is not the fire department's …
Fire departments get their budget from the government so Government governs fire department, not citizens or community. They are communal in the sense they protect the community, they aren't governed by the community. As such, they should not be in the billing process, the government should do that...
Report abuse »
#29
19:46 November 18, 2009 by timw
Fire departments get their budget from the government so Government governs fire department, not citizens or community. They are communal in the sense…
you'd think so wouldn't you
Report abuse »
#30
09:45 November 19, 2009 by sarabyrd
They are communal and receive no funding from the federal government.
Report abuse »
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