Thread: Firefighters Let Home Burn

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/articl...l-fee/19662595

Because of Unpaid Fee, Firefighters Let Home Burn

(Oct. 6) -- A small rural community in western Tennessee is outraged and the fire chief is nursing a black eye after firefighters stood by and watched a mobile home burn to the ground because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75 municipal fee.

South Fulton city firefighters -- equipped with trucks, hoses and other firefighting equipment -- didn't intervene to save Gene Cranick's doublewide trailer home when it caught fire last week. But they did arrive on the scene to protect the house of a neighbor, who had paid his fire subscription fee.

"I just forgot to pay my $75," Cranick told ABC News. "I did it last year, the year before. ... It slipped my mind."

Later that day, Cranick's son Timothy went to the fire station to complain, and punched the fire chief in the face.

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"He just cold-cocked him," Police Chief Andy Crocker told the Union City Daily Messenger. The younger Cranick was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault, and South Fulton Fire Chief David Wilds was treated and released from a hospital, Crocker said.

Firefighters in South Fulton city are under orders to respond only to fire calls within their city limits, as well as to surrounding Obion County, but only to homes there where people have signed up for a fire subscription service.

Because Cranick hadn't paid his fee, firefighters doused the border of his neighbor's property to protect that house in case the flames spread, but wouldn't help him. He lost all his possessions, plus three dogs and a cat.

"They could have been saved if they had put water on it, but they didn't do it," Cranick told MSNBC.

The fire began when Cranick's grandson set fire to some trash near the house, and the flames leapt up. Cranick said he told the 911 operator that he'd pay whatever fee was necessary, but it was too late.

"I have no problem with the way any of my people handled the situation. They did what they were supposed to do," South Fulton City Manager Jeff Vowell told the Messenger. "It's a regrettable situation any time something like this happens."

But one firefighting expert said the fee system isn't fair to homeowners or firefighters.

"Professional, career firefighters shouldn't be forced to check a list before running out the door to see which homeowners have paid up," Harold Schatisberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said in statement excerpted by MSNBC. "They get in their trucks and go."

I saw that on the news. I bet the man regrets not paying the $75 now. My sister has to pay $100 a year or they wont come out when her house is on fire. Thats because they don't have a fire department where she lives. But I do feel for the family that must have been horrible watching your house burn and then seeing them help your neighbor because he paid the money.

I wonder if the town Doctor would let someone die, if they had an unpaid medical bill??

Wow, I'd be suing someone. That's just BS.

Originally Posted by 3lilpigs

I wonder if the town Doctor would let someone die, if they had an unpaid medical bill??

Wow, I'd be suing someone. That's just BS.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

If you are a true fireman at heart, I don't believe you could sit by and just watch a home (including the pets) burn to the ground. Just as if you are a doctor, you wouldn't save someones life if they didn't have health insurance.

A few years ago a neighboring town dibanned their fire department and EMT services. It is now my villages responsibility to answer their calls. I am sure someone pays, either the other town or the resident themselves when they call. I know if I call an ambulance the bill is $800. But because I am a homeowner, I do not have to pay. But if I were a renter the fire department/EMTs would render service and then bill them. When you consider how expensive it is here, $75 seems like such a small price to pay considering the alternative. However even if the were outside city limits they must still be residents of a county government and taxes are paid to the county so it baffles me that funds are not dispersed for fire services through the county. It is just sad.

Me

You cannot run a fire department based on fees paid after the fact. It requires money to upkeep the trucks, men, equipment ect.
If they allow people to pay once they get there, why would anyone pay year after year without using the service?
Perhaps the neighbor has paid for the last fifteen years and never had to call them. Thats 1,125.00 that the neighbor has paid to ensure the fire department will show up when they call, and for what? So this guy can pay 75 bucks AFTER his house is on fire for them to put it out. No way. You cant run a fire department like that. (The neighbor paying is a generalization, I do not know how long or how much they've paid)