WTF?? I'm freakin speechless. Pay up or burn!

[VINMAN]

Im besides myself.

Anyone in the area familiar with this??

Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground | WPSD Local 6 - News, Sports, Weather - Paducah KY | Local

Firefighters watch as home burns to the ground
Reporter - Jason Hibbs
Photojournalist - Mark Owen

Story Created: Sep 29, 2010 at 10:34 PM CDT

Story Updated: Sep 30, 2010 at 12:31 AM CDT

OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to a local family tonight.

A local neighborhood is furious after firefighters watched as an Obion County, Tennessee, home burned to the ground.

The homeowner, Gene Cranick, said he offered to pay whatever it would take for firefighters to put out the flames, but was told it was too late. They wouldn't do anything to stop his house from burning.

Each year, Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton. But the Cranicks did not pay.

The mayor said if homeowners don't pay, they're out of luck.

This fire went on for hours because garden hoses just wouldn't put it out. It wasn't until that fire spread to a neighbor's property, that anyone would respond.

Turns out, the neighbor had paid the fee.

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," said Gene Cranick.

Because of that, not much is left of Cranick's house.

They called 911 several times, and initially the South Fulton Fire Department would not come.

The Cranicks told 9-1-1 they would pay firefighters, whatever the cost, to stop the fire before it spread to their house.

"When I called I told them that. My grandson had already called there and he thought that when I got here I could get something done, I couldn't," Paulette Cranick.

It was only when a neighbor's field caught fire, a neighbor who had paid the county fire service fee, that the department responded. Gene Cranick asked the fire chief to make an exception and save his home, the chief wouldn't.

We asked him why.

He wouldn't talk to us and called police to have us escorted off the property. Police never came but firefighters quickly left the scene. Meanwhile, the Cranick home continued to burn.

We asked the mayor of South Fulton if the chief could have made an exception.

"Anybody that's not in the city of South Fulton, it's a service we offer, either they accept it or they don't," Mayor David Crocker said.

Friends and neighbors said it's a cruel and dangerous city policy but the Cranicks don't blame the firefighters themselves. They blame the people in charge.

"They're doing their job," Paulette Cranick said of the firefighters. "They're doing what they are told to do. It's not their fault."

To give you an idea of just how intense the feelings got in this situation, soon after the fire department returned to the station, the Obion County Sheriff's Department said someone went there and assaulted one of the firefighters.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

A volunteer firefighter would have put it out.

[McLovin]

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," said Gene Cranick.

Yeah, I guess so. On the upside, he did save $75!

[McLovin]

It's kind of the state of our country, everyone thinks they are entitled to get something for nothing, or the rules don't apply to them.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

but the Cranicks don't blame the firefighters themselves. They blame the people in charge.

Of course, they share no blame for their willful refusal to pay the $75.

[masraum]

Well, if that's the policy, $75 is a cheap price to pay.

I'm sure the thinking each year was, "screw them, I'm keeping my $75, that's a lot of beer."

Then when the unimaginable actually happens to you, "holy crap, help, help, NOW I'm willing to pay ANYTHING."

Screw that, you had your chance.

Reminds me of the folks that do nothing but curse the cops until THEY get robbed.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by McLovin

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," said Gene Cranick.

Yeah, I guess so. On the upside, he did save $75!

Originally Posted by McLovin

It's kind of the state of our country, everyone thinks they are entitled to get something for nothing, or the rules don't apply to them.

Originally Posted by McLovin

Of course, they share no blame for their willful refusal to pay the $75.

Yep, exactly.

[id911T]

Originally Posted by masraum

well, if that's the policy, $75 is a cheap price to pay.

I'm sure the thinking each year was, "screw them, i'm keeping my $75, that's a lot of beer."

then when the unimaginable actually happens to you, "holy crap, help, help, now i'm willing to pay anything."

screw that, you had your chance.

Reminds me of the folks that do nothing but curse the cops until they get robbed.

^^^+100

[Jeff Higgins]

Such basic, potentially life saving services can no longer be expected for all the taxes we pay? Un-fukking-believable.

One of my pet peeves have become the endless local fire and EMT levies. How about using our tax monies for essential services like this and having instead, say, local welfare levies? Or road improvement levies? Or nrw library, new city hall, new mayor's desk levies? I cannot believe we are held hostage for such essential services as fire, and have no say whatsoever on the "frills".

In this case, someone needs to be taken out and shot. The entire fire department and county council would do.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

A volunteer firefighter would have put it out.

Damn right! I'm not saying that they were wrong for not paying the fee. But as a firefighter, It just astonishes me that they would let the thing burn. There aint a firefighter I know that would have not done something. Paid or not. Sorry!

[stomachmonkey]

Not an uncommon policy among Long Island volunteer FD's

They'll show up to make sure your neighbors house does not burn but unless you've donated yourself you're SOL

[71T Targa]

Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton.

Sounds to me like the county folks have the option to 'buy in' to the city's fire department. These folks decided not to, and then complained when they weren't helped anyway.

[Rikao4]

what do they do in case of a rescue call..
look at the payed up roster first...

Rika

[widgeon13]

This describes a very sad state in our country today. Perhaps they couldn't afford the 75 bucks, I don't know but it certainly is a sad story.

[RWebb]

I don't know what taxes they pay in -- or near -- Paducah KY. I'll BET they live out away from town. We have problems with that here -- people live out in the sticks, don't fire proof their property and have a long narrow "driveway" that makes it almost impossible to get to there house. Here, we have urban growth boundaries that reduce the problems of scattered rural houses all over creation, but t's still a problem.

2nd issue is whether ti was too involved to be safe to attack by the time they got there - Vin you are surely aware of that. No idea if that was the issue or not.

If it was safe, and there was some prospect of saving the place, then I agree they should have gone ahead and put it out and THEN slapped his title with a lien for the full cost of response. That would be maybe 100x or even 1,000x the $75 fire fee.

something for nothing is right -- there's no free lunch folks

[nostatic]

Well, they are using their tax money for something:

----------
Ironically, Obion County describes itself as a “progressive community.” In a recent report (PDF), town officials wrote:

We continue to recruit new industry .... We’re building new roads and new schools and making improvements in health care, law enforcement and tourism. The implementation of a Regional Airport, the construction of the I-69 corridor through Obion County and improvements to our local infrastructure reflect the commitment of our county commissioner and municipal officials.

[Rikao4]

there's 75 bucks..
and the right thing to do..

how about an error..
he payed...paper snafu..
guess they would want a receipt first..

Rika

[IROC]

That's the way it works in many parts of Tennessee. You want fire protection? You become a "subscriber". I live in Knox County (TN) and only pay county property taxes. Knoxville City residents also pay city property taxes. Their increased taxes (basically double what mine are) gets them fire protection and trash pickup.

I pay ~ $220 a year for fire protection and ~ $200 a year for trash pickup. City property taxes would be about $2000 a year for a house my size, etc. so I make out pretty good.

Technically, the fire department is supposed to respond to your fire emergency whether you are a subscriber or not. The difference is that if you're not a subscriber, they will bill you for the cost of watching your house burn down () and many insurance companies are sketchy on what they pay in those situations.

[trekkor]

Obvious societal breakdown.


I wonder what they do when there's a car fire in the rurals?


KT

[trekkor]

What happens when someone burns to death in their home after the FD decides to keep watching that movie at the station, instead?


KT