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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.
Related
- WPSD: Firefighters Watch as Home Burns to the Ground
- WPSD: More Fallout Following House Fire
- USAToday: Firefighters watch house burn because owner hadn't paid $...
- 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 Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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Answer me this:
Where is your proof?
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Permalink Reply by andrew shapiro on
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These hypothetical "What If's" of trapped victims etc could very well apply to the next incident like this, then what...
The local governmant needs to address the situation through their property tax system or whatever else is needed to get the problem rectified. Don't wait until lives are lost, now is the time to fix it.
The fire department and the firefighters are stuck in the middle and that is not fair to them.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Well these discussions certainly aren't going to make your task any easier.
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I hear you Butch.
I have been both sides. I was active for 22 years fire side and have been a fire district trustee for the last eight years.
It's funny, but I have always heard that the fire service was paramilitary in its command structure and following orders.
Yet, when that is done, a department gets skewered.
Then, you have people on these boards who apparently think that the money to manage a fire department just magically appears. Or they believe that I should extend a service that I pay for to someone else for free. It's the "right" thing to do. Before you know it, there will be more and more looking to get it for free. Like ants to a bread crumb.
No thanks. I will find a workable solution and when it is extended to everyone, it will be cheaper for everyone. I am not going to charge more to those who can pay so we can give away to others. Sorry; but my auto insurer always does that. It's called "uninsured motorist" coverage.
But, I am getting disgusted with posters coming here and accusing others of being morally corrupt.
And to finish; I have always said and will always believe that funding fire departments are a LOCAL issue.
So, butt out Schaitberger.
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Permalink Reply by chris vandusen on
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You can tell the difference between a independent and a municipal owned fire co / dept.
I'm A member of a volunteer fire co. in PA that douse not take taxes from are community .We raise fund the old fashion way fund raising events and we would never let this happen. And yes we fill out for any grants we can get to help with expenses. We reserve a SFCO Grant everyyear from are state. And yes any Co/Dept that receives FED/STATE grant has been paid for there services by every in their state for fire protection so their is no excuse for any emergency serves to let this happen. Just like the family that watch their house burn we sit and watch the morels and values of the people of this grate nation do the same.
And I'm reminded of a old saying that go's when the tones go off we go in.
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Regardless, for one moment at least, that this homeowner did not pay the fee the decision to not contain this fire, or one in a similar situation, seems full of risks: risk to life inside the structure, risk of spreading into a wildfire, environmental risks, etc.
If it can be proven that the homeowner willfully decided against paying the fee and accepted the risk of that choice, and then requests and receives service from the fire department, that is essentially "theft of service". Like an illegal electrical or cable TV hook up. In that case the home owner should be liable to be prosecuted for this theft of serivce to the full and reasonable extent of the applicable law.
This way the moral dilemma and other potential serious consequences of "let it burn" can be avoided but at the same time the homeowner cannot avoid the consequences of his willfull action.
At the very least the howeowner should be required to pay any and all oustanding applicable fees + interest for fire service that would have accrued since the day he took ownership of the property. Perhaps a modest penalty would be reasoanble as well to serve as a warning to other "gamblers" in the district. A lien would be placed on the properety should the judgement not be paid.
The "gambler" mentality doesn't sit well with me and neither does the "let it burn" scenario. Perhaps this is a reasonable way out of this dilemma.
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Chris,
Why do you feel that your method of funding is more valid than taxpayer-based support? You refer to your method as "the old fashion way," as though it somehow has more validity than being taxpayer supported. So if you prefer the old fashion way of getting funds, why then bother with any new equipment or ways of operating? I mean, building your own fire truck would certainly save your community a crap load of money which is what you are doing by funding by fund raisers. Let those that can and choose to pay do so. Everyone else rides for free.
And despite what I'm sure are your best intentions, you misunderstand the issues at play here. Your community HAS a volunteer fire department, Obion County does NOT. Let me put it this way, suppose your community (county, town, village, township) had a VFD but the one next to you did not. And whenever they needed the fire department they called you, yet they gave NO money to your department/community in exchange for that fire protection. How long do you think you could continue to operate providing for TWO communites while being supported by only ONE? Better, how long do you think your community would stand for constantly being hit up with fund raisers to support your increasing operating expenses for TWO communities while they alone bear the financial obligation?
And while it is asking a LOT of you to go and read all of the comments here and in the other discussions as well as reading the provided links, understand that Obion County (where the house burning down took place) neither rasies nor disburses any money in the County for fire protection. They've instead decided to depend upon the 8 municipal FD's that DO have taxpayer-funded FD's.
Obion County receives NO state or federal funds for fire protection as they do NOT offer any. Are you getting the point yet? Your department does fund raisers, applies for grants and receive state and federal aid, which is turned back to your community in the form of fire protection. But would you (or be allowed to) respond out of district/out of state to provide fire protection to an area that chose NOT to have any? I really think not. Pennsylvannia has a different operating system than does Obion County, Tenn. (or maybe even Tenn. overall).
And while you're all wrapped up in your flag, this has nothing whatsoever to do with "morels and values" (morels, by the way, are a type of funghi similar to mushrooms). In fact, supposing that the issue is about morals and values is completely wrong, unless you're applying it to the morals and values of the SFFD's obligation to their residents/taxpayers, but I gather that you are not.
And finally, with regard to your opening statement about telling "the difference between a independent and a municipal owned fire co/ dept" it's usually fairly easy. The muncipal (paid) department is most often very well trained, organized, equiped and supported, with stringent hiring and training requirements and standards. Many times, the "independant...fire co" is very often the complete opposite. I wonder why that is?
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Permalink Reply by Gregory Borg on
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Oh but they are!
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Billy, thank you so much. The people of reason could see this all along. But those that base their opinion on emotion will never get it. The firefighters did the right thing, they did what they were supposed to do. They kept their oath, they followed orders.
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Permalink Reply by Bekks on
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AMEN.
If you are that much of a loose cannon on a scene, you will put your fellow firefighters at risk.
Freelancing is dangerous.
Ignoring orders is dangerous.
If that is how you operate... I am just glad you are not on MY department.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Franks on
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Brother and Sister Fire Fighters the idea of subscription fire service is not new, it is how fire service in this country began even before Ben Franklin organized the very first volunteer fire company. Neighborhood Bucket Brigades would only response to association member’s properties in the event of a fire.
That being said it is an outrage that here in the U.S.A. the most advanced and industrialized nation we still have areas of this country that do not have consistent and adequate emergency services.
Thousands of communities across our nation have found it necessary to establish a fire tax that every property owner and business must pay to provide for emergency services. However in most places it is not an option.
Subscription service is or should be a no brainer for residence in a community that has no fire protection.
The problem with the present emergency response system and the reason we will never be able to achieve true national preparedness is that the responsibility for providing emergency response service falls on the lowest form of municipal government for any given community. The elected officials of these areas often do not have adequate revenue generation from their single municipality to provide adequate first response resources including manpower. This is why many states have resorted to fire districts, and or regional fire departments that receive funding from multiple municipalities, regional fire taxes, fund drives, and state, and federal grants. Still this leaves the question who will be available to use this equipment when an emergency occurs? Volunteerism for the fire service is declining nationally every year.
Until the Federal Government realizes that the protection of the citizens of this country is
Ultimately the responsibility of the Federal government working with the State Governments to provide for Emergency Response Services on a county by county level we will never achieve true national preparedness.
Each little town, borough, village, and township does not maintain their own army to protect it’s citizens, why should they be expected to provide their own emergency response services?
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Vic, is this really going to happen, I can't wait. The Texans will be a pain in the ass to Mexico instead of us.
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