Did these people choose to have a dysfunctional fire department? Yes. The people of that county have allowed multiple attempts to set up county-wide firefight

Did these people choose to have a dysfunctional fire department? Yes. The people of that county have allowed multiple attempts to set up county-wide firefighting services to fail. They've preferred fee-based out-of-area services from a city that has never had any authority to tax them. There's no "smaller government" aspect here, there's no conspiratorial back-room change by the GOP. There's just bizarre, partisan axe-grinding by people seizing on a lurid story.