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Firefighters Watch Home Burn Over Unpaid $75 Fee

medusacoils

medusacoils

Mr. Enigma!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/05/firefighters-let-home-burn-owner-didnt-pay-fee/

No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn

A smoldering rage may be all that remains after Gene Cranick's home burned to the ground last week in Obion County, Tennessee.

Firefighters are usually the bold "veni, vidi, vici" sort, but those from neighboring South Fulton could only say "veni, vidi." They came. They watched. That's it.

Cranick lives outside of the city limits and he admits that he forgot to pay a $75 annual service fee that would have provided him with fire protection. Firefighters wouldn't lift a finger, much less the hoses that might have saved the house.

The fire reportedly started in some barrels outside. As the flames crept closer to the home, Cranick says he offered to pay whatever it would take. The plea fell on deaf ears. Hours later, the home was gone.

So were three dogs and a cat.
Click to expand...

I, uh, what?? :shrugs:

Wayne
 
Granted, he should have been on top of things and paid, but that is ridiculous.
 
Wow, that's crazy.

I guess if they saved his house anyways then people would think they wouldn't have to pay? It's just so sad :(
 
Wonder what they would have done if they were told there were pets inside. Or more specifically snakes inside. Wonder if they would have done something then.
 
That's disgusting to be honest. Hero's my butt watching someones home that they had gotten with their life earnings and when living creatures are inside the home at the time.

Wonder if they'd help a child if there was a child inside the home at the time.
 
I just saw that on the news on TV. Several dogs and at least one cat, like Wayne said above.

Gotta love the heavy sluggish rusty gears of bureaucracy.
 
I am simply flabbergasted over this. I used to hold police and firemen in the highest regard, but lately there have been so many things happen that have made me question whether they are worthy of such praise anymore. :rolleyes: In my local area, we had a police officer that basically sexually assaulted someone he had pulled over and told her that if she gave in, he wouldn't arrest her. She turned him in and the area surveillance cameras caught him in the act, so he is in deep doo-doo.

Maybe this man didn't pay his $75 fee, but that is outright inhumane to let his house burn down along with his dogs and cat. Money truly is the root of all evil. I hope that some day these firemen are caught in a similar situation...where no one will help them (though without the dying).
 
Not sure I blame the front line firefighters as much as I blame the city and county administrators. They are the ones ordering the firefighters not to respond.
 
I smell a lawsuit coming. I have dispatched for Police/FIRE/EMS Services for years and I believe there ARE some legal actions he can take. I have read articles where things like this have happened in the past, and big money was paid out...

And I am not ripping on ALL firefighters out there...but let's just say I have met quite a few personally that I wouldn't trust with a garden hose and a tricycle...let alone a 5 inch wide main hose and a fire engine. :rolleyes:
 
“The mission of the South Fulton Fire Department is to protect the lives and property of its citizens, and provide good public relations through fire safety education to all businesses and schools.”

So it is like with the mobs, he didn't pay his protection money and they didn't help? Lovely how emergency response looks like organized crime in that sense
 
This is how it is SUPPOSED to work for county islands like the one this man lived in...
- they pay a fee, in the ones near me its $235/year, for firefighter services to their home
- if they don't and there is a fire, someone, be it in the county nearest them or not, WILL come and hopefully put out the fire... but now they pay the cost to put out the fire, which often starts around $2,000 for minimal damage and skyrockets up to $20,000 if a person had to be taken out of the burning home or the home was severely burned.

I can't believe anyone would just sit back and watch this man's life, his history, his memories, his pets... burn to the ground, all over a $75 that both the man and his neighbor offered to pay.
 
Does the minimal $75 fee pay the firefighter salaries, for their equipment, etc. ~OR~ Is that money saddled on the general population in the form of property taxes, income taxes, etc. Granted, as has been mentioned a few times in this thread, he should have paid his fee. BUT, I find in unconscionable that the local Fire Dept. would sit idly by and watch as the home burned.

It costs a lot more than $75 to respond to a fire, let alone, fight it. This is wrong, very wrong!

Wayne
 
This is probably pretty much beside the point, but the thing I find most infuriating is that they responded, they came out to his house. That right there cost quite a bit of money, I'm sure. At what point did they check the records to see if he was paid? Coming out there & watching it burn with apparently no intention of stopping it seems even more cruel. Here is everything needed to save your house sitting right there & not being able to use it?
 
Them responding would have costed a lot more then 75 dollars.
A fire unit responded to my grand father when he got into a car accident and they ended up getting a bill in the mail for over 350... Well I live in Canada and I'm not sure when this started going on, but I was pretty sure we paid taxes for that.

None the less, yeah a lot more expensive then 75 dollars.
 
Who pays the damn fee when the woods catch fire in that community? Sorry, but I find this really unconscionable! What if a person was in there and they didn't pay the fee? What then? Do they let that person die?

They can't use the excuse that they didn't know that the dog and cats weren't in the house, because any reasonable person would be screaming that they were. If I let a dog and cat knowing burn in a fire, I would probably be charged with animal cruelty.

Wayne
 
medusacoils said:
Who pays the damn fee when the woods catch fire in that community? Sorry, but I find this really unconscionable! What if a person was in there and they didn't pay the fee? What then? Do they let that person die?

They can't use the excuse that they didn't know that the dog and cats weren't in the house, because any reasonable person would be screaming that they were. If I let a dog and cat knowing burn in a fire, I would probably be charged with animal cruelty.

Wayne
Click to expand...
That makes me sad just to think about... fire is an excrutiating and slow (relative to the pain level) way to die unless it's VERY hot.
 
That's what I was thinking. If there was a person in there, it'd be murder. Shouldn't it be at least animal cruelty, knowing there were animals in there burning to death?

People sicken me. I feel for this man. A simple fee of 75 dollars would've saved his memories, home, and companions. A shame that it should even be required.
 
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