Gene and Paulette Cranick, of South Fulton, Tennessee, US, lost their home after officers were ordered by bosses not to extinguish it.
Fire fighters only arrived when the flames spread to the property of a neighbour, who had paid the fee. However, they continued to refuse to help the Cranicks.
Later the same day, the couple's 44-year-old son was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, after allegedly punching the local fire chief.
Jeff Vowell, the city manager of South Fulton, said: "It's a regrettable situation any time something like this happens." Mr Vowell explained that there was no county-wide fire service and it was too expensive for the city's officers to serve surrounding rural areas like the Cranicks' as well.
Rural residents can gain access to the service by paying the annual fee. But "if they choose not to," Mr Vowell said, "we can't make them".
Mr Cranick said: "I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong." His wife said the couple had offered to pay the fire fighters whatever was necessary for them to extinguish the flames, but the officers refused.
However they do not blame the officers themselves, she said. "They're doing what they are told to do. It's not their fault." The Mayor of South Fulton, David Crocker, told local reporters: "We're very sorry their house burned."
Jeff Vowell, the city manager of South Fulton, said: "It's a regrettable situation any time something like this happens." Mr Vowell explained that there was no county-wide fire service and it was too expensive for the city's officers to serve surrounding rural areas like the Cranicks' as well.
Rural residents can gain access to the service by paying the annual fee. But "if they choose not to," Mr Vowell said, "we can't make them".
Mr Cranick said: "I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong." His wife said the couple had offered to pay the fire fighters whatever was necessary for them to extinguish the flames, but the officers refused.
However they do not blame the officers themselves, she said. "They're doing what they are told to do. It's not their fault." The Mayor of South Fulton, David Crocker, told local reporters: "We're very sorry their house burned."
2 comments:
More on Daily Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/10/4/907568/-Houses-should-be-small-enough-to-drown-in-a-bathtub,-if-necessary
Interesting, no? I'd love to know whether the Cranicks are Teabagger sympathizers, just for full background.
If their house had been -- as Grover Norquist once counseled regarding governments -- small enough to drown in a bathtub, then they could have put the fire out themselves. See? (h/t to socratic for that one)
But the fascinating part of this story for me is that the firefighters ended up having to put the fire out on the property of a neighbor who had paid the fee. That's actually why we have taxes and common payment for essential services like fire fighting. Yes, the Cranicks saved on tax-like fee payments, and yes, they suffered the consequences of doing so. But their neighbor paid for protection, and suffered fire damage anyway. And not because of random accident, but because the firefighters were forced to refuse to come to the Cranicks' assistance. If they had, the neighbor would have had no damage at all.
It's also why we do things like treat even undocumented immigrants in hospital emergency rooms. No, they haven't paid. But yes, you stand a much better chance of not getting their tuberculosis when you hire them on the cheap, pretending not to notice their immigration status.
I guess I'm also surprised that the fire department wasn't prepared to accept payment for services. If the issue really is limited resources, then surely they'd be interested in recouping the sunk costs of having responded to the scene. The Cranicks offered to pay whatever it took to put the fire out. Why not do so, and then charge as doctors or hospitals might for uninsured patients? Apparently Republican Utopia is filled not with Libertarians, but with moral scolds. Who knew? We all thought it was the opposite! The fiscal conservatives of Obion County, Tennessee threw out the money they spent sending the trucks out, and turned their backs on a profit-making opportunity in exchange for the chance to stick in in the Cranicks' eye. Why, you can practically taste the fiscal responsibility and good ol' fashioned common sense that made America great (but the Confederacy presumably greater)!
Meanwhile, I'm sure the neighbor is wondering right now whether he can get his fee prorated.
The silver lining here is that local water utilities now have a new and untapped revenue source. They can begin squeezing fire departments every time they want to open a hydrant.
Be on the lookout next summer for pay-to-play fire departments dropping lit matches around town to drum up business. And remember, if one of their fires melts your Medicaid-paid mobility scooter, you can still get another free one in time for the next Teabagger rally.
Sounds familiar.... remember the recent big hoorah in Mason County about the water utility locking the hydrants because the fire dept. wasn't paying for water?
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This made the CNN news this afternoon, including two aspects of the story I haven't seen reported elsewhere: (1) the Cranicks simply forgot to pay the bill and weren't refusing to pay it; (2) after the fire, a Cranick family member (however, not an immediate member) went to Fire Dept. headquarters and clocked the Fire Chief, who is now "recovering".
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