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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 Jack/dt on
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Obvious you cherry pick the facts that suit you. They watched it burn while they put out and defended a house that HAD paid for fire protection. Really, go back and read through the posts and links and get a good working feel for the situation before you jump and decide what was right or wrong. In this case, your opinion is trumped by many other factors at play in this issue. Not that that is going to slow you down any...
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Tell me I'm wrong, they watched a house burn while owner stood there asking for help... that's enough "FACT" for me! Over here, if it's burning, we put it out! Who cares who paid what!
And over here we follow orders. Orders were to let it burn, most of us don't subscribe to freelancing, which is fact enough for me.
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Permalink Reply by Avery Dale on
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Wouldn't doubt it. Got alot those multi-hat wearers here in the south.
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Exactly how it boils down Butch.....but facts be damned, don't let facts get in the way of a good emotional response.
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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John:
You've been rather busy today!
Keepin' the mind, sharp, eh?
TCSS.
Art
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Anyone remember when they first joined the Service and was given the talk : " It's one of the most rewarding jobs on earth and the proudest tradition of Community Service" .. why has this being forgotten
First, let's look at the fact about "community response". This person resided outside the community where the fire protection would be provided from. It was decided by the powers at be, that instead of paying taxes for their own dept or for automatic services, that the owner paid for their own fire protection. Which means when the owner decided against paying for a subscription, the fire dept had no community responsibility with the owner.
Secondly, the issue here is political and doesn't fall on the firefighters themselves. They followed orders to not suppress the fire. We follow orders in this profession, regardless if we agree with the order or not, that is how it works.
There really is not much difference here than say the American military observing an attack by one country on another country. If the troops are not ordered to intervene, they sit and watch, regardless of their personal feelings about the attack. They do not freelance.
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Art, sometimes it is like talking to a wall.....I'm sure you can relate.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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I can't believe we are still debating this. Where is the personal responsibility?
You chose to live in an area WITH NO FIRE DEPARTMENT, but expect another community fire department to come when needed to your call.... I am tired of hearing this guy whine about how they stood by and did nothing. They didn't respond until the fire spread and threatened the neighbor's house (who happened to have paid the fee) I wasn't there but I am pretty sure there was nothing to save by the time the neighbors house was being threatened.
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Permalink Reply by Doug on
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I don't know about you two, and a few others I have respect for on this site, but I have a headache from reading these two threads....
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Ricky,
Number one, there wasn't a life threat involved here, so don't "what if" it. There is a difference between trying to save a savable life and watching property burn. It is just like MVA's where others tried to make the same case, if there was a life threat, it doesn't matter if one pays taxes, has a subscription etc, life trumps the money factor. However, there wasn't a life threat.
The community is the ones who decided NOT to have a fire dept and also decided NOT to pay taxes for another dept to come to their aid, but instead chose to make that option the homeowner's responsibility.
The mayor in question here was the mayor of another community, those who live outside that community don't really have a say. In fact it can be argued that the mayor was saving taxpayer dollars because they didn't use the taxpayer funded services on someone not paying the taxes nor subscription.
There really isn't a duty to put a fire out, especially if outside one's jurisdiction.
Personally, I see it much worse where public officials cut the fire dept in the name of cost while collecting the same amount in tax dollars from people paying the services. In this case, the person chose not to pay for fire protection and got what he paid for.
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Permalink Reply by Karr Quintero on
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I just want to see an interview from that department, and see records that show this was a one time "forgot" on paying, or has he not paid for a while.
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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This could be something that the state may have change in the laws about fire protection. I remember hearing where states like North Carolina, Alaska and who knows where else had people who lived outside of a town or city had to pay the fire service for fire protection.
Where I live you pay your county or state taxes and you get fire protection no matter where its coming from. Have a house fire you get 8 different stations responding, 4 engines, 3 special services and a ambulance with volunteer and career personnel. You might get 3 tankers if its a non hydrant area.
Stations get their money from county and state funds to pay for their services, thou ambulance service you do have pay if you get transported by a BLS or ALS county or volunteer unit. Most stations use to ask for donations for services but county law makers changed that. We still have fund raisers to add what we get in funds from the county and state. New apparatus have to be bought to protect our area and others.
Turnout gear, equipment and supplies provided by the county with tax money.
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