When a pallet company in Tea burned down more than a year ago, it was one of the biggest fires the city had seen and Palleton Incorporated got the big bill that came along with it. But, you may be surprised to find out it's not unusual for a volunteer fire department to send out a bill for putting out a major fire.

Palleton Incorporated says they did pay the more than ten-thousand dollars that they were charged for putting out the fire at their warehouse in Tea last March. Now, they are trying to figure out if insurance will cover the costs. And according to local fire officials charging a fee to fight the flames is something that is not uncommon.

It was an intense fire that required the help of several fire departments, and when the smoke cleared Palleton Incorporated got a bill for ten-thousand dollars.

The bill includes charges of up to 165 dollars an hour for eight of the departments that responded to the fire. It even charged Palleton 97 dollars for the food firefighters ate while they battled the blaze.

In a statement to KELOLAND News the Tea Fire Department says its policy is to bill for major fires when multiple alarms are sounded and several trucks are sent to the scene.

Lincoln County Emergency Manager Harold Timmerman says billing a business to fight a fire has happened before.

"I wouldn't think that's out of line because usually what they use is state rates for this, so it's not something they just dream up out of the sky, there's actually rates used to bill whoever has the actual fire," Timmerman said.

Timmerman says most insurance companies cover the bill the fire departments send out. In April 2007 the departments that responded to the fire at the school in Hudson got paid to fight the flames.

"And everyone there was also compensated for the hours they were there and for the equipment that they brought. It's not a hundred percent set in stone practice, but if there is a way to make it work all the fire departments try to take advantage of it," Timmerman said.

Tea's fire chief says they send out bills on major fires hoping that the property owners will forward them onto their insurance company, but ninety percent of the time the fire department never sees a check.

The Tea fire chief says all of the money they got for the fire was given to the departments that helped get the flames under control. The rest of the money was put toward an account to pay for trucks and equipment.