I understand the prohibition of extinguishing fire on Shabbat. My question aims specifically towards an emergency situation where one's property or life is in danger. It clearly states in the Mishnah that if life is in danger, one can put out fire on Shabbat, no question about this. However, it seems to say that if life is not in danger, rather property only is in danger, then it is still prohibited to put out fire.
So there are a couple ways to approach this
- How can one determine whether a life is in danger, when a fire may start small and could lead to deadly destruction of an entire city. If one lives in a dense city, we can assume that putting out a fire would be permitted because even if the inhabitants of the house safely leave, the burning house could threaten the life of others living nearby. But if someone lives in a rural area where lets say they're house is not close to any other houses, this wouldn't apply.
- if one leaves his house wouldn't he be carrying (clothes) outside of a private area? Isn't this the same as putting out fire to save the house and life of those staying in it?