Matt Haines, a general contractor who bought a 31 year-old, municipal surplus 750-gallon fire engine and an accompanying 3,000-gallon tanker truck, organizes his neighbors into a volunteer fire company to save their Malibu, california, neighborhood, after government fire fighters failed to do so.  Haines bought the equipment for a total of 6,000 “dollars” to protect homes that he was building.  Neighbors supplemented his efforts by drawing water from their pools, running their house water lines through garden hoses, and tapping fire hydrants–which were not being used anyway.  The neighbors were able to save eleven homes, while the government fire fighters lost 49 houses.

       [added 5/25/2024] Thanks to Richard Ryder for this entry.