Firefighters let house burn to the ground...

Rage9

Rage9

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Jan 7, 2008
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Bad day for this guy:
Rural Tennessee fire sparks conservative ideological debate | The Upshot Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News

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Here's the short version of what happened: In rural Obion County, homeowners must pay $75 annually for fire protection services from the nearby city of South Fulton. If they don't pay the fee and their home catches fire, tough luck -- even if firefighters are positioned just outside the home with hoses at the ready.

Gene Cranick found this out the hard way.

When Cranick's house caught fire last week, and he couldn't contain the blaze with garden hoses, he called 911. During the emergency call, he offered to pay all expenses related to the Fire Department's defense of his home, but the South Fulton firefighters refused to do anything.

They did, however, come out when Cranick's neighbor -- who'd already paid the fee -- called 911 because he worried that the fire might spread to his property. Once they arrived, members of the South Fulton department stood by and watched Cranick's home burn; they sprang into action only when the fire reached the neighbor's property.
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Pretty damn harsh.
 


Wow. I'm all for this, as long as the citizens clearly know what they're getting themselves into (or out of).

As long as this man's life wasn't in danger, it's not the government's job to bail him out of trouble. Queue up the liberals.
 
Berto said:
Wow. I'm all for this, as long as the citizens clearly know what they're getting themselves into (or out of).

As long as this man's life wasn't in danger, it's not the government's job to bail him out of trouble. Queue up the liberals.
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Wrong - that is Government's only job. The whole purpose of forming a government is to ensure the protection of your life, liberty and property. To think otherwise is beyond retardation.

"The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property." (John Locke - Second Treatise on Civil Government)

"Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." (Frederic Bastiat - The Law)
 
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Berto said:
Wow. I'm all for this, as long as the citizens clearly know what they're getting themselves into (or out of).

As long as this man's life wasn't in danger, it's not the government's job to bail him out of trouble. Queue up the liberals.
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I would agree with you except for this part:
When Cranick's house caught fire last week, and he couldn't contain the blaze with garden hoses, he called 911. During the emergency call, he offered to pay all expenses related to the Fire Department's defense of his home, but the South Fulton firefighters refused to do anything.
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If he's offering to pay all the expenses (which I'm sure would be a decent amount of money), why would the fire department say no? They had every right to say no, but it's still really stupid.
 
papajohn56 said:
And just an outright asshole.
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This. Bunch of fucking useless, lazy slack-jawed hicks & yokels if you ask me..

Firefighters Oath:
I promise concern for others. A willingness to help all those in need.
I promise courage - courage to face and conquer my fears. Courage to share and endure the ordeal of those who need me.I promise strength - strength of heart to bear whatever burdens might be placed upon me. Strength of body to deliver to safety all those placed within my care. I promise the wisdom to lead, the compassion to comfort, and the love to serve unselfishly whenever I am called.
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and they basically shit all over it. whats next? Doctors violating the Hippocratic Oath if people are too broke to pay for service???
 
What an asshole thing to do.

As otzhers pointed out -

Governments are formed to protect life and property. Too bad they evolve into "you did not fill out form x2347a3755bc - paragraph 3 in blue, too bad"

Public services are paid by taxes - Also this guy's tax money.

I am still in awe about this dick move.

::emp::
 
emp said:
What an asshole thing to do.

As otzhers pointed out -

Governments are formed to protect life and property. Too bad they evolve into "you did not fill out form x2347a3755bc - paragraph 3 in blue, too bad"

Public services are paid by taxes - Also this guy's tax money.

I am still in awe about this dick move.

::emp::
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"In rural Obion County, homeowners must pay $75 annually for fire protection services from the nearby city of South Fulton."

From a political standpoint, I'd say he should have paid the $75 or GTFO and move elsewhere.

From a human standpoint, the fire chief should be ashamed of himself.
 
I see what you're all saying, but this guy opted out. You don't always choose the terms you live by. You play by their rules - and when you think you can outsmart the system, sometimes you get burnt (literally).

Now if an investigation shows that his property taxes were going towards firefighters, or that these policies weren't easily understood, then I'll refute my argument.

We always say that you get what you pay for in our businesses, and that government shouldn't force us into paying for certain things. Why should fire protection be any different?
 
cardine said:
I would agree with you except for this part:


If he's offering to pay all the expenses (which I'm sure would be a decent amount of money), why would the fire department say no? They had every right to say no, but it's still really stupid.
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OK OK yes I'll agree to that. The lien on his house does make sense.

But note that if everyone could pay after the fire already started, then how are you going to pay for the the equipment upkeep and salaries during the quiet periods with no fires?
 
Berto said:
I see what you're all saying, but this guy opted out. You don't always choose the terms you live by. You play by their rules - and when you think you can outsmart the system, sometimes you get burnt (literally).

Now if an investigation shows that his property taxes were going towards firefighters, or that these policies weren't easily understood, then I'll refute my argument.

We always say that you get what you pay for in our businesses, and that government shouldn't force us into paying for certain things. Why should fire protection be any different?
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Well I had seen him on Keith Olbermann talking about it,

I think what the firefighters did was a dick move, would like to point this out.

A while back his sons house "almost" burned down and they called and came out to assist. By the time the fire department got there they had gotten that fire out. I am not sure on all the details...

He also mentions he knows of other houses burning down because people did not pay the $75 fee.

Now I think they should have done something regardless if you pay this fee or not. If they want to worry about "upkeep" then they need to get donations or something.

If someone has not paid again come out, put out the fire place a lien on the house.

This is what TAXES are suppose to pay for.

I will say this TN is the most back-assward, place ever. Whenever there is fucked up news it is there. They have the poorest, dumbest, most racist people anywhere in this country.
 
Berto said:
OK OK yes I'll agree to that. The lien on his house does make sense.

But note that if everyone could pay after the fire already started, then how are you going to pay for the the equipment upkeep and salaries during the quiet periods with no fires?
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I see what you're saying but you have to make it quite a penalty for not paying the upfront fee. Say $5000 (66.6 years of fees) would make you quite a retard not to pony up the $75 fee. I also bet you'd be very willing to pay $5000 to keep your house from burning down.

However just standing there while it burns is just heartless. I'm sure not everyone is to blame, I'm sure there where firefighters that wanted to put it out but the upper heads put a clamp down on it.
 
Berto said:
OK OK yes I'll agree to that. The lien on his house does make sense.

But note that if everyone could pay after the fire already started, then how are you going to pay for the the equipment upkeep and salaries during the quiet periods with no fires?
Click to expand...

Ah, by taxes?

Thats the role of the government - to provide services for the people where it doesn't make sense for private enterprise to do so. Nobody is going to donate money for a road that isn't the road that goes from their house to their work to the grocery store, because everyone is essentially selfish and acts in their own self interest. So the government steps in and builds the roads for everyone.

Incidently, this exact scenario is the reason fire fighting was brought under government control in the 1800's in England. If you didn't pay your fire insurance, you wouldn't get any protection when your house caught fire. The problem was that there were multiple companies providing fire insurance and if a competing company got their first, they would just let your house burn down while watching.
 
So in the future are they going to check with the IRS to see if you are paying your taxes before they help you if you are in a car wreck?
 
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