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And they watched it burn, again...
Before you comment read my whole post...
Well the story has broke again. I made this prediction in the many threads from the last fire in 2010 that got the FFN boards lit up. History repeats itself in the fire service. The homeowner this time admits they knew the past story of "Pay for Spray" in 2010 and about the $75.00 fee. They said quote, "never thought it would happen to them."
Here is the news video: http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Home-burns-while-firefighters-...
In my opinion, the FD who refuses to put out the fire is doing the right thing. As hard as that may seem, if the FD provides the service for free, then nobody in the county will pay. This story has been going on for many years. For those who don't know, the county has NO fire department, the residents know this. Many move there because it is cheaper to live there. Past studies have been done to reccommend providing fire protection services but it will cost the homewowner more in their county taxes. The county administrators have decided to keep it "Pay for Spray" meaning a neighboring fire department who does NOT have any jurisdictional requirement to respond to your county residence, is allowed to offer their services to each individual homeowner for $75.00 per year. If you pay the $75.00 subscription service, you will get a response and mitigation from the neighboring FD. This is not mutual aid, this is not automatic aid. This is paying for fire protection from a contractor. If you don't pay the fee, the FD has told everyone numerous times, no pay = no service.
In my opinion the lack of FD action keeps the integrity of the lousy system in place. The people who pay are getting services when needed and they are NOT subsidizing their neighbors lack of payment. The fire department unfortunately gets caught up in the media and the "passion police" when the story of "they just watched it burn" After the last story unfolded, many neighboring chiefs came out and tried to explain how small of a budget this fire department has, one chief even mentioned the fire chief sometimes, empty's the soda machine to buy fuel for his trucks with change.
So instead of continuously being the bad guy, I suggest the Mayor and the Fire Chief tell the county administrators that they are done offering subscriptions next year. Therefore no more subscription service to the county and the COUNTY will now have to fund their own protection services. The administrators will then have to assess a fire tax to their residents to fund either a volunteer fire department(s) or pay for services from another FD for every county residence.
Time to end the subsciption mess...... it is a black eye to the one's who have to enforce the rules and the integrity.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Please re-read the entire story. The county council is elected by taxpayers who vote them in specifically so that they do NOT increase taxes to support a county fire department.
The taxpayers of Obion County get exactly the fire protection they want - either a subscription to a neighboring city's FD, or no fire protection at all. It might not be the system under which most of us would prefer to work, but it is completely realistic based upon what their county taxpayers want.
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One word..."Kryptonite".
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Permalink Reply by Greenman on
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Ben,
Whether it's legally accurate, or not, my "protection racket thugs" comment reflects a view that many people who read an article about a Fire Department standing by and watching someone's home burn to the ground over a $75 fee will have.
They'll shack their heads while chewing their toast and think, "what a bunch of A#$holes."
I agree with Captain Busy, where he said, "it gives the impression of being downright mean spirited and will do nothing but make folks hate the fire department, for years." When the Fire Engine arrives and Firefighters, the supposed "heros" who restore order to chaos and exist as a force to save people's lives and property - even when the calamity was their own fault, sit back and watch someone's home go up in flames, people learn that the "mystique of the Firefighter" is a lie.If members of the Fire Service don't like the "protection racket thugs" comment, they should stop before they get their panties in a wad and think about it for a moment. Take off your Fire Chief hat and put on your "average citizen" hat and try to look at the situation through their eyes. By billing the affected homeowner for the full cost of fighting his or her house fire, despite having not paid the annual fee, the fire department has the opportunity to create and maintain a positive image, recoup the cost of fighting the fire, and teach a lesson to rest of the community by comparing the annual fee to the actual cost of fighting a fire. I suspect that one or two instances of doing this will go a long way toward creating good will toward the responding fire department and will actually help you in getting other families to pay their subscription fees.
In the meantime, the majority of county residents continue to begrudgingly pay their annual fee while a rift between the community and the fire department grows.
Do I think it's a "protection racket?" Not at all, I understand how the system works quite well, but I can put myself in a position to try to see it through the public's collective eye.
What makes me think a homeowner would pay a large bill after extinguishment? The law; if it's a legal bill for services, then simply turn it over to a collection agency. It's almost as harsh as letting their home burn down if they choose not to pay, but at least they still have the family Bible and Grandma's rocking chair (which the fire department can kindly point out to them at appropriate times).
Greenman
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Right, and when the house (mobile home) burns to the ground, the FD bills for $20,000 and there's nothing but ashes, yeah, the FD will come up smelling like roses.
"Fire Department Bills Homeowner $20,000: Homeowner Lost Everything."
Yeah, great PR. But at least you feel better because it doesn't rise to your definition of a protection racket.
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Not my definition; the public's perception.
As I said, I do not think it's a protection racket, I just think it's extremely poor practice which reflects on the Fire Service as a whole.
Here's an analogy: It's like having a car with minimum liability insurance broken down on the side of a highway with a narrow shoulder on a blind curve at 0200, and the wrecker driver won't tow your car until you pay the $75 tow fee in advance in cash when all he has is his debit card with him. Should the wrecker driver tow the vehicle and keep it in the yard until the driver pays, or let another car hit it?? After all the driver should have gotten full coverage before he broke down.
Greenman
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That is definately NOT the Obion County public's perception, and they're the only "public" that counts here.
When you repeat the public's misperception and defend it in the way you did, then it becomes your definition, like it or not.
"Poor practice"??? What would you do to make it better? The ONLY other choice the city fire departments in Obion County have is to refuse to respond outside the city limits. The inevitable result would be that ALL burning buildings would be destroyed by fire instead of the two non-subscribers homes that have burned in the past two years.
Your tow truck analogy is apples and oranges. Once the car has broken down - or the house is on fire - then there is NO "pay in advance".
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Not accurate. They carried out their contractual obligations to the letter.
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It wasn't their fire, and they have no obligation to fight out-of-jurisdiction fires for free when the county taxpayers have repeatedly refused to pay a cent of county tax for their own fire protection.
As has been pointed out numerous times on this topic, SFFD simply can't afford to give away free, out-of-jurisdiction fire protection. The Obion county taxpayers get exactly the fire protection they want - either a subscription to a city fire department or no fireprotection at all.
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Que? There already is a firefighting fee in place in Obion County, TN. It is a standard $75 per year, and it must be paid as a subscription, in advance.
There ARE no fire taxes in Obion County. None, nada, zip, zero. Fundraisers - why should a city FD be forced to resort to fundraisers to protect county property owners outside the city? The answer - they shouldn't, and they don't.
The money to run the department comes from two places - city taxes (it's a CITY FD, remember) and from subscriptions for the property owners that contract with the city FD for county fire protection.
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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on
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You are wrong on this one Truck 55. Do some research, seriously.
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