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MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,462 posts
Farmer

So a fire fighter service let some guys home burn down destroying all he owns and killing his pets. All because the guy forgot to pay a $75 fee. I agree with his son and would have likely punch out the chief myself. What are your thoughts?

Also just to add a bit of conversation do you think this is comparable to the way US health care service is run?

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/firefighters-let-home-burn-after-finding-owner-didnt-pay-annual-fee/19662595

(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.

"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.

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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."
  • 76 Replies
simmonz
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simmonz
79 posts
Nomad

Oh the beauty of living in the U.S.A

Thats Capitalism for you

Asherlee
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Asherlee
5,001 posts
Shepherd

They need to find a really good lawyer. I shouldn't still be shocked at the news by now, but I still am.

NoNameC68
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NoNameC68
5,043 posts
Shepherd

Oh the beauty of living in the U.S.A

Thats Capitalism for you


Up yours.

No it isn't.

I'm seriously sick and tired of kids who blame absolutely everything bad that happens in America on capitalism. How is that capitalism?

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


See this? It's a yearly fee. This is not something caused by capitalism or the free market. I'm not saying the fee is a bad thing SO DON'T TWIST MY WORDS AROUND. I am merely saying that there is no correlation to how capitalism works, and why the firefighters let the house burn due to a man who didn't pay a monthly fee.

/end rant
NoNameC68
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NoNameC68
5,043 posts
Shepherd

monthly


Sorry, yearly fee.
Efan
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Efan
3,086 posts
Nomad

i'm seriously sick and tired of kids who blame absolutely everything bad that happens in America on capitalism. How is that capitalism?

i just blame America in general. it is easier.joke....guys it's a joke!
Highfire
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Highfire
3,025 posts
Nomad

Ouch.
Terrible honestly - firefighters, army soldiers, and other life-riskers or rescuers usually say they do it because of that's what they wanted to do - help people.
Doesn't seem true this time, and I find it appalling that only one of the many stood up for that principle.

Meh. I honestly don't know how to respond to this:
1) It won't change anything.
2) It really isn't my problem, as selfish as it sounds.
3) The fire was caused by what appears to be an idiot (setting fire to trash... really?), unless it was an accident.
4) I live in Wales where it rains a lot.

Poor joke at the end. But I'm making the most of it, and that's what you do in life!

- H

MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,462 posts
Farmer

See this? It's a yearly fee. This is not something caused by capitalism or the free market. I'm not saying the fee is a bad thing SO DON'T TWIST MY WORDS AROUND. I am merely saying that there is no correlation to how capitalism works, and why the firefighters let the house burn due to a man who didn't pay a monthly fee.


How is it not? They wanted a fee for fire protection, he didn't pay that fee so he didn't get fire protection. If I'm not to mistaken doesn't this fit into the trade model of capitalism?
SirNoobalot
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SirNoobalot
22,207 posts
Nomad

sooo.. he lost X amount of money, plus the love and affection of 4 pets, when they could have simply put it out then demanded the mney wihin a week or something? I would do much more than punch the fire chief, i'll tell you that, if they let my trailer home burn down because of a WHOPPING 75 bucks...

wolf1991
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wolf1991
3,437 posts
Farmer

Also why the hell is there a fee at all? Don't start with the firefighters need to be paid and all that BS. Who cares? It's friggen $75 take it from the man's taxes for Christ sake. This system is just flawed all around.

holt24
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holt24
1,133 posts
Nomad

This system is just flawed all around.


Ya really why do you even have a choice to pay it? They should just make it a tax.
Avorne
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Avorne
3,085 posts
Nomad

I should hope that each one of those fire watchers (since they did no actual fighting of fire in this case) is strung up by their figgin.

RugRat
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RugRat
340 posts
Nomad

I would have just remembered to pay my fee.


And someone ordered the firefighters not to put it out, so don't put all the blame on them.

holt24
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holt24
1,133 posts
Nomad

And someone ordered the firefighters not to put it out, so don't put all the blame on them.


Yes I think it was the cheif who didn't want them to do it but they still should have helped him.
NoNameC68
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NoNameC68
5,043 posts
Shepherd

How is it not? They wanted a fee for fire protection, he didn't pay that fee so he didn't get fire protection. If I'm not to mistaken doesn't this fit into the trade model of capitalism?


No, this doesn't fit into any trade model. It merely reflects a stupid system, which requires firefighters to check a list before they save homes.

The fee reflects trade. You give someone money, they give you something in return. Because 75 is not very much money at all, they should have saved the 700k home or however much it cost, then demand 75 dollars afterwords.

Also, the whole pay by the year (which is pretty much a form of insurance) is like an optional tax system that goes specifically to a single product or service. This happens in all societies.

This fire incident could have happened anywhere, but it happened in America.

Ya really why do you even have a choice to pay it? They should just make it a tax.


Actually, it shouldn't be a tax considering you're already paying taxes to support the fire debt. I could be wrong though. If, for one reason or another, the fire department is running off the yearly fees alone, then I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make it a tax.

However, I hate saying this, because it implies that we should rely on taxes for all the goods and services we need. This is untrue.

In this one instance, they should have probably taken the money out of his taxes. However, I don't know how the system works in wherever this happened, so I can not say.

So no, this incident is not related to capitalism at all, or any other ism. It's just a shitty policy where firefighters have to check a list before fighting a fire. We don't need to become socialist to fix the problem, we simply need to say "hey, let's make it so they fight all fires, and if someone doesn't pay the yearly fee, we charge them a bit more AFTER the fire is put out."

Stop inflating things and making connections that aren't even there.
QuietRiot9
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QuietRiot9
12 posts
Nomad

Actually, it shouldn't be a tax considering you're already paying taxes to support the fire debt. I could be wrong though. If, for one reason or another, the fire department is running off the yearly fees alone, then I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make it a tax.

However, I hate saying this, because it implies that we should rely on taxes for all the goods and services we need. This is untrue.

In this one instance, they should have probably taken the money out of his taxes. However, I don't know how the system works in wherever this happened, so I can not say.

So no, this incident is not related to capitalism at all, or any other ism. It's just a ****ty policy where firefighters have to check a list before fighting a fire. We don't need to become socialist to fix the problem, we simply need to say "hey, let's make it so they fight all fires, and if someone doesn't pay the yearly fee, we charge them a bit more AFTER the fire is put out."

Stop inflating things and making connections that aren't even there.


That does make a lot of sense.
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