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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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Yeah; but I'm the only one who took the time to trademark it.
Hah!
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Someone in the chat room at Netcast last night mentioned it too.
But, as you say, that was past management.
However; a good lawyer could use it as precedent-setting.
I think that could be defeated if the exception could not be found in the current policy.
But, I'm speculating.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Ben,
In the heart wrenching interview of the homeowner by Olbermann, the homeowner, when asked replied that there had been previous instances, but they were under the old chief.
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Trademarking it and being it aren't necessarily the same thing. I'm just sayin'...
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Permalink Reply by Robert jacobs on
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Orders...orders..by the book you must be a chief, remember that following "orders" didnt work for the nazis at nuremburg.I dont care what you say if those guys were on scene and did nothing to help because he didnt pay his 75 bucks then shame on everyone of them they are a black eye on the fire service as a whole,and before you say will its the rules that how we make our money blah, blah, blah,those departments that are paid through taxes do you think we get a list on who hasnt paid their taxes this year or even any other year NO WE DONT being a fireman is as simple as this you call we come..remember that Chiefy.
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Well said Sam spoken like a true Fireman.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Armstrong on
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The S**t storm that all those guys would have been much worse for them I think had the have taken Fire trucks to a house that did not pay a fee.Who knows what it would have been.They as crazy as it seems covered their asses doing as they are told to by their employer and it is their employeer that should be strung up and the home owner should have paid for it no matter how rediculous it seems but I'm sure that most of us pay alot more in our taxes for fire protection than 75.00 bucks.Why did he not pay?who knows but I believe he should have been able to pay when he asked.All I know is it is a crazy situation I'm glad I'm not part of.
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You guys on here who are hiding behind policy and rules with your "freelancing"and it wasnt our job to respond because he didnt pay makes me 100% sick,you were there on scene and did nothing, you watched a familys home burn down and did nothing you have to live with that ..you were there and did nothing but spray water on a fence, urban fire deptments respond to calls ever day to people who cant or wont pay their taxes but we still come..we still put their fires out and we move on.You guys say he lived outside the area, they have no fire dept. so they must pay well how many fire depts. are in this area do they get to choose who they want or is it just you, and if thats the case and you are the only game around then in my eyes its your call get your money later through lawyers or his insurance or collections..but keep hiding behind your Mayor your Fire Chief and your policy I know at least 30 Captains on my dept. who if they were on scene would have taking control and battled that fire.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Robert, nobody is "hiding" behind rules and policy. Such things are placed for a reason, whether one agrees or disagrees with them. Ignoring such rules and doing what you want, whether you think it is the right thing or not, IS freelancing.
As for the response, the majority of places are a tax funded issue and while correct that we don't check to see if the tax bill was paid up etc, that isn't the case here. In fact the chief has stated that such a tax based system should be in place, yet it is the decision of the people not to have that and keep with a subscription. Instead of blaming the FD and the rules, how about the decision of the will of the people to force such a hand?
In a tax based system, there isn't the issue you see here because there would be a duty to act, which wasn't the case here. Secondly even if someone is unable to afford the taxes etc, there are things like leins and so forth which can be placed, if there is a foreclosure, the bank pays taxes, or new owner pays etc. So basically there isn't the issue where such a hand would be forced as wih subscription service.
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John my biggest problem with this story is that once the rigs and men were there they wouldnt help.. I cant fathom that..that goes everything I believe in when it comes to job,saying its not my duty to act is one thing if your not there but they were there,is it my duty to act if while off duty or out of state I happen across a accident or a medical emergecny no its not, but I couldnt just not help,I took an oath to protect life and property as did you.We are and should be held to a high standard because the vast majority of the public holds us in high such regard because when they call we come, perhaps Ill never understand the way they do things down there but if your the only Fire Dept. in the area in my eyes it will always be your call, you can always come down on someone later but if your allready there for gosh sake do somthing.
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Robert we all hear what ur sayin but rules are rules and you can't just jump in a county owned firetruck and go put out a fire against county policy cuz who knows what the ramifications would be on everybody on the department.why are you not getting mad at the people who did not pay the 75 bucks cause he assumed they would come anyhow if they had a fire.If that was the case noone would pay unless they needed them and so the people should get the rule changed that they want a pay-per-use so they can be billed after services rendered,but then who's to say they would pay after as obviously some people refuse to pay ahead of time.I'm sure those guys are sick inside over this but rules are rules and they did the rite thing as crappy as it seems.I personally would have a hard time just watching but I would also not want to loose my firefighting job over a guy that did not pay a fee but once the house was on fire the old wallet flipped open and all the sudden he had it.There is alot of blame being thrown on the firefighters but not the person who did not pay his bill or the county that did not just include everyone and add it to the taxes.The guys did the right thing!!!And as far as you coming upon an accident and helping sure so would I and so would everyone on here as well as alot of private citizens but that is not even close to the case here.We all see your frustration with this but you would have to understand what risks those guys they would have been taking and nobody knows what the county would have done to them had they have responded to that call.
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I suppose in some way I can accept the you dont pay we dont come thing.. but they were there,they didnt go rogue and take the rig anyway, they didnt respond due to the policy ok whatever I now rigs dont leave unless dispatched but THEY WERE ON SCENE they put out the grass and looked that guy in the face and said NO.People rules are rules yes I know that, there are alot of rules on my dept. just like everyone elses but part of being a Fireman is being able to adapt and overcome to different situations in this case the Chief sounds more like a policy man for the Mayor then a Fireman sorry my opinion, most Chiefs(AC's and BC's who are not policy makers) and Captains I know would have done what they could have for that family WHILE THEY WERE ALREADY THERE ANYWAY and then gave reasons way later.Rich you ask why risk your job for someone who didnt pay the fee(75 dollars)then Ill ask you why would you risk your life and health for someone who did.. its simple just like the older guys explained to me years ago "its what we do"nothing more nothing less
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