From Firehouse.com: "The South Fulton fire chief was assaulted by a man after crews were unable to respond to a house fire last week due to an unpaid rural fire subscription fee, according to The Messenger.
Fire Chief David Wilds was transported and treated at an area hospital following the incident that occurred at approximately 5:45 p.m. on Sept. 29 at the city's fire station in the South Fulton Municipal Building.
His alleged attacker -- 44-year-old Timothy A. Cranick -- was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault, according to the report....
The fire that provoked the attacked occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. that same day at Gene Cranick's property on Buddy Jones Road.
Vowell said that since the property owner was not a paying member of the rural fire subscription service, the call was declined and the city's fire department could not respond.
"I have no problem with the way any of my people handled the situation. They did what they were supposed to do," he told the newspaper. "It's a regrettable situation any time something like this happens."
The department did respond to a request to protect the property of the adjacent property owner, who is a member of the rural fire subscription service.
South Fulton's annual fee is $75, according to the report."
http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/tenn-chief-attacked-over-house-allowed-burn
In some rural areas of the country, instead of paying for firefighting services through property taxes, property owners pay a set fee for fire department services. In this case, it is $75 a year.
If you pay the money, the fire department will respond. If you don't pay the fee, then, if you have a fire, the fire department will not respond, unless there is a life endangered. This is like insurance- if you pay, no problems, the fire department will come if there is an emergency at your house. You don't pay and if you don't pay, you are out of luck. And no, you cannot pay at the moment of the fire because if you did this, no one would ever pay and there goes your fire department.
I support the fire department for not going on the call, even though it flies in the face of every fire fighter. But if you don't pay a small bill, that is the price to pay- the destruction of your property in a fire. Next time, pay your bill and don't blame the fire chief for your stupid behavior.
Cheaper and More Efficient
35 minutes ago
I can't agree with you on this one. The whole setup of paying extra for vital services is just nuts. How many times have there been emergencies in America, when emergency responders come from all parts of the country to help out? Should New Jersey rescue workers have NOT responded to help New York on 9/11? Or should wildfires in California or Colorado go unchecked because nobody's paying Nevada or Arizona firefighters to help out?
ReplyDeleteThese "pay to spray" setups are dangerous. It's a way to get around "raising taxes," but that $75 is just that. . .a tax. My dad is a (forcibly) retired firefighter, and I simply can't imagine him sitting there watching a house burn down because they didn't pay.
Another problem. The firefighters had to put out the house next door, because the raging blaze at the non-paying house lit IT on fire. That wouldn't have happened if they'd simply put the fire out.
There was a time in America when fire protection was done this way in big cities. New York practically BURNED DOWN because of it. If you get enough "non payers" in a row and a fire breaks out, a fire could quickly consume the "payers" in the middle.
Just think of the crucial minutes that are wasted figuring out whether or not a fire victim is "on the list" or not. It's a deeply flawed way to do things.
One more thing, Dan. That family had three dogs and a cat that perished in the blaze. What if they had a kid or an elderly infirm person in a back bedroom? Should the firefighters have let people DIE because they didn't pay $75?
ReplyDeleteIf there were people in danger, then the fire deartment would have responded.
ReplyDeleteThe pay to spray usually, but not all the time, occurs when the people live so far from the fire department, that even a fire started, it wouldn't do any good. Say the home was 30 miles from the closest fire department and a fire started, by the time the fire department showed up 40 minutes later, the house or whatever is on fire would be gone.
So, the homeowner took a chance with their fire department insurance and they lost. They made a choice and it backfired.
Trust me, the fire fighters would have loved to go tot he scene and help out. But like in busniess, if you don't pay, you don't play, so to speak.