When Edward Moriarty drove up to the Jasper Highlands development earlier this month to check on the construction of his retirement home, his car caught fire.
He called 911 and two Marion County sheriff's deputies responded, but no fire services arrived.
"No fire truck," Moriarty said. "No fire support whatsoever."
When the deputies called in the fire again, the dispatcher told them that no one was coming.
Moriarty, a career firefighter himself, told the Marion County Commission this week that he'd never seen anything like it.
"I've never known a place where you couldn't pick up the telephone and get help, whether it's police or fire service," he said. "My car burned to a cinder. It was a total loss."
He said his new house is expected to be complete in December and the insurance coverage will probably be "pretty steep" without fire protection.
Phillip Graham, an insurance agent with the Farm Bureau office in Jasper, said the difference in annual insurance premiums is significant.
Like Jasper Highlands, there are several areas of Marion County that are fire-response "no-man's land," Graham said.