Tom Scott did a video[1] about this. For the UK at least, this may have been an urban myth rooted in the fact that only the fastest fire brigades were paid[2].

Tom Scott did a video[1] about this. For the UK at least, this may have been an urban myth rooted in the fact that only the fastest fire brigades were paid[2]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wif1EAgEQKI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wif1EAgEQKI [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_insurance_mark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_insurance_mark