Private Firefighters are Helping out in LA Wildfires. It Raises Ethical Questions
NPR reports that private fire protection services hired by insurers are a standard part of homeowner policies in fire-prone states, and by providing these services, insurance companies are able to limit their losses.
Those who can afford to hire private firefighters or who have the service as part of their insurance policies would be better protected than those without private firefighter services.
"There are tons of ethical questions because wildfires themselves are a very complicated issue," says Brian Green, director, technology ethics.
Questions such as who will get access to the water supplies, and will people who have private firefighters still support taxpayer funding for the public firefighters servicing entire communities.
"If you have resources and you're better able to insulate yourselves from all sorts of bad things that are happening around you," Green says, "That just raises the injustice issue back to the forefront."
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by NPR.