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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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Interjecting a "what if" isn't pertinent to the situation.
What is at issue is what actually occurred, not your "what if" about something that did not.
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The majority of the people you bring up have opionions that aren't pertinent.
The majority here does not have the right to force their way of doing things on either Obion County or the City of South Fulton.
They choose to provide fire protection differently than how it is in other places. That is their choice, since they have to pay for it.
It's pretty easy to tell other people how to spend their money, isn't it?
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Permalink Reply by M.J. 6821 on
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MJ,
Why don't you bring up such issues with the politicians and people who voted for such subscription services? Why do you insist on trying to make a case out of something that really isn't your problem. If the people can't afford a subscription, nor anything else in terms of luxuries, what makes you think they can afford the house they are living in then as well?
John I could ask you the same question, you have posted on this topic quite a bit as to why they did the right thing. They did not do the right thing the county of Obion, the homeowner and the city of South Fulton are all at fault. But if we get called to help its not our job to determine if they can afford the house or not. Or if they have paid their taxes or anything else our job is to go fight fires.
If he doesnt pay charge him with theft of services or fraud if he receives a check from the insurance company and doesnt pay.
Also it doesn't matter what happened in the past and there have been statements that billing retroactively does not always go to the fire dept. The policy is there and in place, just because it hasn't always been enforced doesn't make this a past practice issue.
This is a past practice issue because it can show that they are selective in who they will or won't help. It shows that they will help some people outside of the city that havent paid but not others so it shows that they are being selective in their services which is discrimination.
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Robert,
Who elected you to decide how the City of South Fulton provides fire services for a neighboring jurisdiciton that intentionally doesn't provide their own?
You're demanding that a city of 2,500 people subsidize free fire protection for a county of more than 30,000 residents. Just how long do you think they'll have a fire department at all if they do it for even one non-subscriber?
When you say "those fire departments are paid through taxes", that's absolutely untrue as far as South Fulton FD is concerned when they're outside their city limits.
How about you get your facts straight?
Your opinion is based upon a situation that does not exist.
In other words, your opinion is based upon a fantasy.
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There you have it...
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Michael,
If the South Fulton FD is wrong, as you insist they are, then please explalain how long they will have the money for their city fire department if they provide free fire protection to Obion County.
If they extinguish non-subscriber fires, EVERYONE will become a non-subscriber.
Also, please explain how it is fair or ethical for South Fulton to provide free fire protection to one county homeowner while charging the subscription fee to their neighbors?
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Billy, that is completely inaccurate.
The FDNY doesn't follow every NFPA standard, and it would be very, very difficult to convince anyone that they are "not a fire department".
Further, the NFPA standards don't apply to where a fire department provides fire protection. That is completely a local issue and only the locals get to decide how it is done.
Opinions based upon inaccurate facts are simply...innacurate.
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Crickets chirping...
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What assininity, and another ad hominem personal attack.
When are you going to learn that honest debate means that you can factually debate the IDEA, but that when you attack the PERSON you are out of bounds.
No one has ever said that anyone felt good about the situation. As Jack/dt and I have both told you elsewhere, just because it doesn't feel good doesn't mean it's a bad decision.
As Jack further pointed out in his triage example, sometimes doing the right thing will make you feel very, very bad, but the decision is still the right one.
The blame here is on the homeowner. The fire was started - intentionally - on his property, he didn't keep it under control, and he lost his house due to two of his own bad choices - the choice to not control an oudoors fire and the choice to not pay his subscription fee.
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Permalink Reply by Fireslayer960 on
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"I never called you names, instead I called your remark a stupid, moronic, fallicy"
That doesnt imply anything right?
After rereading my comment, it does read differently then what I meant to say,, Anyway, I refer you back to page 3, read Chris Puylara`s post. That is only one example. But you are right, heaven knows there have been enough comments in this thread that have been misconstrued.
Your justification using "Just following orders", Well please refer back to page 1 and read Carol A Crook`s post.
Finally, you sidestepped my question. The poor family. They have NO tv, NO cable, NO car, NO money, they cant afford to pay. Do you put their house fire out? A simple yes or no will do, thank you.
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Mike, that's an ad hominem attack, which is a logical fallacy. Ergo, your point is not logical.
Further, explain how the City of South Fulton FD has a duty to act in an unincorporated area outside their city limits? Unless, of course, they have a contractual obligation to a specific homeowner called a subscription???
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The taxpayers turned that plan down, so it doesn't exist.
You're arguing a moot point.
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