They will save your life. They won't treat your trick knee, erectile dysfunction, or failing vision. And they eventually put it out to prevent it spreading. Just not with the same fervor of preventing property damage.
I thought in the US, hospitals were only required to stabilize, not treat, non-paying patients. For example, if someone has cancer, they are not required to perform surgery or chemotherapy, just stabilize their symptoms at the moment.
Reading the article, that's not true.
They watered down the fence line to protect someone else's land.
> Firefighters did eventually show up, but only to fight the fire on the neighboring property, whose owner had paid the fee.
> "They put water out on the fence line out here. They never said nothing to me. Never acknowledged. They stood out here and watched it burn," Cranick said.
So to your examples...
> They will save your life. They won't treat your trick knee, erectile dysfunction, or failing vision.
It would be closer to the story if it was "they won't save you, but they'll spray down everyone else with a disinfectant to protect them from your disease."