Fundraising Thoughts

Before I forget -which is always a danger- here's the short note which had been set in motion, once again, by the fund raising I've spotted the other day. The Cause? One of the many Firemen's Association in or around Lisbon.
So here's the thought behind it: Fire fighting is an unpaid -yup, you read right!- voluntary position here in Portugal. Consequently they need to raise funds. As any other cause would.

Why am I even mentioning it? Because I find it rather disturbing. Allow me to explain myself: this is happening in one of the countries which suffers really significant damages caused by fires every single summer. And by 'this' I refer to voluntary fire fighting as the rule rather than the exception.
Oddly enough, I always thought fire fighting to be one of the basic services which would require state support; possibly the 112 unique European emergency number has something to do with it.. Such as the fact that fires are emergencies?!