... The real kicker in the case of many volunteer
> fire stations in the US is that they are not publicly owned at all.
> They are often owned fee simple by a private corporation that is
> organized under state charter to provide a public service. ...
It's not just bathrooms that are off limits. For many of them, depending on the legal form of their organization, neither the public nor the municipality hiring them has any right to see their books or internal affairs. There was a recent case where the top two officials of a volunteer fire department suddenly resigned with no official explanation, but with a hint of financial impropriety. Yet, this same department regularly solicits the public for contributions. It tries to combine the best (for it) aspects of a privately owned corporation and of a public charity. To be fair to it, it does fight fires competently.