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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 Chief Dino on
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True, but I'm sure the burden of proof required for payout by the ins company is much lower than what is required for a criminal case, and would ultimately be up to the insurance company investigator.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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This story is misleading and has a blatant inaccuracy in the very first sentence.
That sentence says 'Imagine if your home catches fire and the local fire department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to a local family tonight."
There are several completely bogus statements there. The first one is the phrase "the local fire department".
Obion County HAS NO LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT. The fire department in question is from a neighboring jurisdiction, the City of South Fulton.Second, it is impossible to not respond to a fire, then to watch it burn unless the fire station is within line-of-sight of the fire. That wasn't the case here.
Completely inaccurate information to begin the "news" story, and very few of those who have gotten so heated up about it seem to have figured it out.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Just like many responses here Ben.....why should the media let facts get in the way of a good emotional response, you know?
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Who determines Cause & Origin? Can the good folks of TN, who live in the Subscription area, but haven't paid, set their house on fire to collect insurance money? Now that the home is burned to the ground, and no Chain of Evidence has been preserved, the homeowner is going to start receiving easy $$$
An insurance company can send in their own investigator. While a criminal case may not be pursued, the insurance company could find reason to not pay out.
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Not sure if I so much blame the duty crew, but someone needs to answer to this. These people lost their home over $75.00!!!!?????!!!?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! Whatever happened to preservation of Life and Property?
There was no duty to act by the FD to preserve property, life threat wasn't the issue here.
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...or the firefighters and wannabes who post here based on speculation, illogic, and emotion instead of the facts?
Oh, that was a rhetorical question, right? :-)
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ah yes, rhetorical with a dash of sarcasm.
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Permalink Reply by Herb Genelly III on
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And that protects a community how?
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Permalink Reply by Christopher Butts on
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Let's just get this out and in the open. It's about whether not people are going to be selfish or not, self-less or not or greedy or not.
"Progressive" is simply a word of convenience. A way to escape the humanity of a situation.
I would save life if I knew I had the opportunity, and especially if I took an oath, or it was my responsibility to do so, regardless of whether I got a paycheck for it.
I don't have a job, but if a baby or child or person, or any of God's creatures were in a fire, I would save them.
I say this, since dying by fire, is one of the worst ways to die, regardless of your placement on the food chain.
It takes a small minded and small-hearted person to just sit by and watch it happen and not truly put their own self in that situation, then trying to change the outcome.
Those who choose income, or well-being, or liberty over the basic value of preserving life as God has given it to us, will be judged when their time comes.
I understand the issues of funding, and or ability to put resources in a given area, but since they were RIGHT THERE, then there is no excuse. Change the laws. Vote the progressive losers out of the county seats, and put people of integrity, of honesty, and of generousity in those places, and are willing to work on solutions that do not take away from the humanity of the culture, but rather add to it.
My prayers are lifted to those who have or will lose because of this, and for those who believe that it is "not their problem"...
Shame on all of us for allowing things like this to happen.:(
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Permalink Reply by Fireslayer960 on
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Well, I will say this. I have read every post in this thread, and frankly I find it appauling. The insults, the cheap shots, the degrading marks, you call this a brotherhood? Now, with that said, here are my thoughts, and lets see if your response can be intellectual instead of 5th grade insults.
1st. The 911 call reporting a fire. Proper protocol dictates a scene size up. How was this done if nobody even responded? I wont go into the "what ifs" but there are a ton of issues that could have arisen from not even investigating this fire as soon as it was reported.
2cnd. Fire Scene. After a proper size up, the fire is extinguished, PERIOD. ANY issues, regardless of whether they are personel, billing, disobeying orders, what ever, are discussed BACK AT THE FIREHOUSE, not on the fire scene.
3rd,The "It costs money to run a fire department" reasoning. Really, would $75 really make a difference to a budget?
4th. To use the "Just following orders" excuse is poor at best.
The FACT is, this fire department acted very poorly in this situation. I can speak from experience, for I have sat on the Board of Directors on a subscription based department. I can assure you, our department would NEVER let a person lose their home over not paying a subscription payment, and for ANY department to do so is pathetic. To let someone lose their home just to set an example shows a strong lack of compassion for ones fellow human beings, kind of like quite a few of the posts in this thread.
When our department sent out mailers informing our coverage area about their payment, we also informed them that if indeed they chose NOT to pay the fee, then they would be billed accordingly for every man, every truck, and every piece of equipment that was on scene if they had a fire. Had this department done that, then they would have been compensated for their effort, period. But regardless, everyone in our department, from the Chief on down to us "Wannabes" agrees, NEVER would we let a house continue to burn,,, EVER!
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The voice of reason!
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Ben,
Tell me why it's now been reported that the FF's that responded to the fire called the house-fire victim to apologize? Are they wrong to feel that what they did was wrong?
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