Liberal blogs implied that this outrage occurred because South Fulton’s fire department is privatized and profit-driven. It’s not. This fire department is government-funded and government-operated. Because the Cranicks live outside city limits, the South Fulton government charged them a fee for fire protection…

At least if the fire department responding to the Cranick’s house was privately operated, the firemen would be out of work today. Their boss would be doing a public apology tour—probably before filing for bankruptcy.

But when the government’s in charge, no one ever claims responsibility. Instead, they point to the bureaucratic rulebook: “Your house burned down? Ain’t my problem. I followed the rules.”