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Tennessee Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Subscription Issue
JASON HIBBS
WPSD
Reprinted with Permission
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.
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- MSNBC: No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn
FireEMSBlogs.com Updates
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.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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You're joking, right?
They work their primary jobs.
They work to maintain their homes and churches.
They spend time with their families.
Then...they donate their time to volunteer with the fire department, for which they are NOT responsible for funding.
It's pretty damn insulting for you to say something like that, Billy, and it's uncalled for. It also ignores the fact that those firefighters work pretty hard at a lot of things.
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I don't have any idea, nor does the actual collection method really matter.
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Permalink Reply by Billy Lilly on
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Where did i make a personal attack. I didnt call you a name. Or dumb or anything. So no I didnt make a personal attack. I said i was strating to think You might be the fire chief in that town. Thats not a personal attack.
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Just stating an opinion.
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Permalink Reply by Herb Genelly III on
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Dang....How'd you figure that out?
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Riiiiiiiight.
If you REALLY believed that, you could do a little basic homework like checking out the name of the South Fulton city fire chief, Tommy Smith.
He spells his name differently and lives in a different state.
You also attacked the South Fulton firefighters with your "a little work don't hurt nobody" comment.
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Just becuase you make a profile dont mean it's true. Second I said a little work dont hurt no one. So no it's not a personal attack. Do some research. For it to be a personal attack. I would have to be talking about someone in general.
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Billy, when you said "a little work don't hurt no one" it was clearly aimed at the South Fulton firefighters, who do plenty of work. You can deny it all you want, but your intent was obvious.
It was a personal attack on them and you don't have a good reason for doing it.
I could accuse you of a lot of things and then cop out by saying "Just because you make a profile don't mean it's true." as well. I haven't done that, because it would be a personal attack...you know, like the personal attacks you made and then tried to tell me you didn't make?
And Billy, when you say "Do some research", what the hell do you think I've been doing? I've been doing my research and yours. A lot of the questions you ask could have been answered by you doing your own homework. I was attempting to be nice and help you out.
Apparently, that's not enough for you, but you'll have to live with it.
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Ben neither of us is getting anything done. We will just agree to disagree. You have not answred some of my questions. Like why cant they do other stuff besides bingo. to raise money. You just ignored it. But like i said. We can agree to disagree.
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Billy,
I've answered those questions repeatedly.
Feel free to go back and re-read my posts for those answers.
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Permalink Reply by Kirk D. Baughman on
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wow i know we have jobs to do but really why let someone house burn down because they didn't pay 75.00 dollars. it cost more than 75.00 dollars just to leave the station. it's crazy their are hospitals out there that won't treat you because you didn't pay the bill but fire deptments not doing there job because of 75.00 dollars wow. if there is a fire we go if there is a medical we go when people needs us we go.
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