As a corollary to your counter-anecdote, the few times I've had to call 911 were in a very rural community serviced by a volunteer fire department. They've alwa

As a corollary to your counter-anecdote, the few times I've had to call 911 were in a very rural community serviced by a volunteer fire department. They've always shown up within 5 minutes or less, though it helps to live just down the road. Heck, even calling the sheriff's dispatcher resulted in no more than 5-10 minutes between first contact and their appearance. We had neighbors who'd set bonfires under trees during all hours of the day and night in the middle of the forest. It may sound stupid to call for that reason, but if you're familiar with wildfires and how often they're started by human factors here in the southwest, you may be somewhat sympathetic. I remember one circumstance a few years ago during the dry season at the very start of our monsoons where lightning had caused a transformer across the highway to explode and catch fire. I don't know who called it in first, but they were there within about 5 minutes followed shortly thereafter by the electric coop. I'm sure there's circumstances counter to this, but we've always had fantastic experiences and donate to our VFD.