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Tennessee Council Plans Vote On Fire Protection Plan
JASON HIBBS
WPSD
Reprinted with Permission
OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - "It was a great plan, but it never took off."
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That's what the creator of a comprehensive, countywide fire protection plan said about a resolution that could have prevented the controversy surrounding last week's Obion County fire.
Richard Chestean designed the detailed plan in 1987. It would have given everyone in the county fire protection. County commissioners liked it and voted yes.
And then nothing happened for 23 years.
About two years ago, county leaders voted to scrap the whole thing and start over. The creator of the plan said county leaders ignored because no one could agree on how to fund it.
So, the debate on whether to tax or offer subscription service has gone on for decades, while houses in the county continue to burn to the ground.
Chestean is a humble man but admitted the resolution he created is pretty good.
"We felt really confident we were going to be able to pull this off," he said.
So confident that back in 1987, he and other Obion County commissioners voted yes. They separated the county into districts and even appointed a fire chief but one thing divided the leaders, halting the resolution.
"It just stalled because of the funding," he said.
Obion County Commissioners wouldn't raise taxes to pay for a service that many were getting for free from nearby cities.
"Before, they never had to have a subscription. They came out anyway," said Chestean of the area fire departments.
But now times have changed. After the fire that destroyed Gene Cranick's home, the heat is on.
A new plan is in the works. Dean Jowers, Obion County's fire commission chairperson, will bring it before the commission in a few weeks.
Jowers said it's similar to Chestean's plan, but doesn't raise taxes and is a subscription service.
"No way to enforce that they pay it, if you charge everybody," Jowers said. "So, a number of people will not pay it."
But Chestean is against this newest proposal because of the effect it will have on stations like Hornbeak. They now respond to all fires in the area and didn't ask for a dime. Under countywide subscription service, all of Obion County will be just like South Fulton.
"You may only have 40 percent of people within Hornbeak's five mile radius that signed up," Chestean said. "Those 60 percent of other people, if they call Hornbeak, they're gonna say, 'Sorry, you're not on subscription."
He's afraid under that system, you'll see homes like Gene Cranick's throughout Obion County go up in flames, and firefighters forced to watch them burn.
Chestean said that something is better than nothing. That's because under the current system, those departments that don't charge to go out to the county are not obligated to respond at all.
Some are afraid that with all this bad publicity, the departments will decide to no longer cover the county at all.
If something is put into place, it would guarantee some form of protection to those who are willing to pay.
County leaders will vote on that proposal Oct. 18.
WPSD
Reprinted with Permission
OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - "It was a great plan, but it never took off."
FireEMSBlogs Updates
South Fulton Fire Dilemma
Related
- Fire Plan Could Have Prevented Controversy
- Tennessee Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Subscription Issue
- Firefighter Netcast: Firefighters Watch as Home Burns
That's what the creator of a comprehensive, countywide fire protection plan said about a resolution that could have prevented the controversy surrounding last week's Obion County fire.
Richard Chestean designed the detailed plan in 1987. It would have given everyone in the county fire protection. County commissioners liked it and voted yes.
And then nothing happened for 23 years.
About two years ago, county leaders voted to scrap the whole thing and start over. The creator of the plan said county leaders ignored because no one could agree on how to fund it.
So, the debate on whether to tax or offer subscription service has gone on for decades, while houses in the county continue to burn to the ground.
Chestean is a humble man but admitted the resolution he created is pretty good.
"We felt really confident we were going to be able to pull this off," he said.
So confident that back in 1987, he and other Obion County commissioners voted yes. They separated the county into districts and even appointed a fire chief but one thing divided the leaders, halting the resolution.
"It just stalled because of the funding," he said.
Obion County Commissioners wouldn't raise taxes to pay for a service that many were getting for free from nearby cities.
"Before, they never had to have a subscription. They came out anyway," said Chestean of the area fire departments.
But now times have changed. After the fire that destroyed Gene Cranick's home, the heat is on.
A new plan is in the works. Dean Jowers, Obion County's fire commission chairperson, will bring it before the commission in a few weeks.
Jowers said it's similar to Chestean's plan, but doesn't raise taxes and is a subscription service.
"No way to enforce that they pay it, if you charge everybody," Jowers said. "So, a number of people will not pay it."
But Chestean is against this newest proposal because of the effect it will have on stations like Hornbeak. They now respond to all fires in the area and didn't ask for a dime. Under countywide subscription service, all of Obion County will be just like South Fulton.
"You may only have 40 percent of people within Hornbeak's five mile radius that signed up," Chestean said. "Those 60 percent of other people, if they call Hornbeak, they're gonna say, 'Sorry, you're not on subscription."
He's afraid under that system, you'll see homes like Gene Cranick's throughout Obion County go up in flames, and firefighters forced to watch them burn.
Chestean said that something is better than nothing. That's because under the current system, those departments that don't charge to go out to the county are not obligated to respond at all.
Some are afraid that with all this bad publicity, the departments will decide to no longer cover the county at all.
If something is put into place, it would guarantee some form of protection to those who are willing to pay.
County leaders will vote on that proposal Oct. 18.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Just Plain Craig Moyer on
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I may be wrong but most of America pays for some type of fire service. If its taxes or some type of surcharge people pay. It seems these fine people want something for free. And if oyu don't know I'll tell ya. Free usually cost more in the end.
If they don't pay then don't call. If they call they better have cash. Theres only so much a fire company can do. Like the letter the Chief of Union City sent out. Some companies have to use the money out of the soda machine to get fuel for the engines.
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Permalink Reply by Clete Collins on
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Having Been in the volunteer fire service for over 30 years, and experencing both subscription and tax supported fire service, let me asure everyone that ONLY a fire tax will ganrantee equal monatary support. There will always be those who want to get a "free ride". I feel if the residents of Obion County want fire protection they should be willing to pay for it. To those who say the fire dept. should have responded and then tried to collect their fee, I would ask who put fuel in the apparatus last month who paid for the insurance on the equipment and whhere did the money for all of the other equipment come from? How about everyone droping their insurance and after they have a fire or accident pick up the phone and call an insurance co. and ask for coverage. GOOD LUCK! If you think 15% to 20% of the people should support the rest, then by all means, go subscription! The non-paying residents only have themselves to blame for the type of service they have! Finally I say to them, Form your own dept., volunteer your time, then you will be in charge of the level of service you recieve!
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Permalink Reply by Andy Mount on
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Obion County has placed this issue before the voters on at least two occasions and on both occasions the voters have turned it down. As this article states, this issue has been a sore point for the municipal fire chiefs for sometime and they have attempted to get some type of resolution to this issue with no positive results. This is a fine example of our government in action. Those who must support the fire services get to choose what level of service they want. The County residents in Obion County have chosen a subscription service. Mr. Cranick chose to ignore paying the subscription service and he paid with the loss of his home and his pets. Now the City of South Fultons Fire Department is being demonized because of a press that refuses to report things in the proper perspective. South Fulton FD did what it's city told them to do. They are being unfairly critized in the court of public opinion because of poor irresponsible reporting and grandstanding.
Those departments that provide their services whether a county resident has paid a subscription fee or not will sooner or later find that those who live in the cities and pay their bills will soon become "tired of carrying the financial burden" for those in the County who don't pay anything but get the same services. If this was my community and that was the case, I would be a pretty irrate taxpayer and be asking my Council and elected officials why I had to shoulder the burden for the others.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
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It will be interesting to see if anything comes of it. Though I suspect as in the past any ideas to form a fire department will probably end up as it is now.
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Permalink Reply by Todd on
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Well, I suppose that this is one of those cases where something is better than nothing, but only by the slimmest of margins.
Things will only change there when the citizens of Obion County decide that fire protection is just as essential a service as law enforcement, and not the government equivalent of cable tv service. You can bet the farm that the fair taxpayers of Obion County wouldn't stand for subscription based law enforcement or EMS.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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From Union City fire chief Edmisson's comments on Statter911;
"Fulton also runs ambulance service. Serves portions of 3 counties in KY and 2 counties in TN. They run a subscription based EMS city and county both."
Apparently Obion County does have a subscription-based EMS system for part of their county,
Chief Edmisson states that Baptist Hospital across the state line in Fulton, Kentucky, provides EMS to other parts of the county.
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Permalink Reply by Josh Russelburg on
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Ive said it a hundred times and ill say it again politics shouldnt play a roll in safety. Its simple sometimes taxes need to go up or stay the same so that fire, police, ems can still answer you call for help. We are dealing with that here in indiana people love the govenor for the tax cuts but some are seeing what they voted yes for save a few pennys and take the chance of loosing alot or property or lives. ITs pretty simple taxes have to be there for departments to answer calls or you get this buy a subscription or take the chance of you needing help and not getting it I.E. medical emergency, fire, etc.. These folks dont know that fire is probly the most universal public service out there. You have to be medical, fire fighter, auto tech, building construction, electrican, and so on. Lets keep the politics out of this Im fine paying a dollar or two more to protect me and my neighbor so fire,police,and ems are there to answer the call for help.
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"Its simple sometimes taxes need to go up or stay the same so that fire, police, ems can still answer you call for help."
Wrong. It's not nearly that simple in this case. Obion County has refused to pay ANYTHING for fire taxes, ever. They've repeatedly voted in county council members who will not vote for a penny of fire taxes.
Apparently you missed the Union City, TN fire chief's comments that included the statement that the only two public services that are guaranteed at the local level are law enforcement and garbage pickup. Everything else, including fire protection, EMS, public works, or whatever is completely optional.
Obion County opted to make county fire protection an individual responsibility. That has worked out fine except for a single homeowner, as far as we can tell.
And Josh, what happens in Indiana has no bearing on the situation in Tennessee. It might be in the center of your comfort zone, but it has no bearing on anything that occured in Tennessee.
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"If you think 15% to 20% of the people should support the rest, then by all means, go subscription!"
...or just don't extinguish non-subscriber fires.
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There is no county fire department, and according to Obion County's probably mandatory subscription plan, there's not going to be one any time soon.
The nonexistant county FD won't be helping anyone.
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Permalink Reply by Karr Quintero on
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the local government needs to do what big government does, just build some stations, find surplus trucks/gear, raise their tax's and tell'em deal with it! and then get them to sign a waver saying let my junk burn if they refuse...
with the 100 bucks a year per person as mentiond ubove, the only prob they should have is finding and training volunteers
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So you think that the government should just force higher taxes onto citizens for things that the citizens don't want?
That's downright un-American. The reason that our country is not part of Great Britain is due to the original colonists seceding based on Great Britain forcing unwanted taxes onto the colonies.
What you advocate is essentially the same thing.
What Obion County does is to not require anyone in the unincorporated areas to pay fire taxes or to fund fire protection. That's exactly what Mr. Cranick did, and he got exactly what he paid for.
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