Well after reading 9 pages I am surprised no one even said this.

In the video it said the fire took two hours to go from the barrels to the shed (barn whatever it was) not even the house.

THAT IS THE WORLDS SLOWEST FIRE EVER.

if they knew it took two hours the home owner saw the fire at the early stage in the barrels and could of put the thing out instead of them all rining the fire brigade to fix this.

I am pretty sure the home owner did not try hard enough to put the fire out himself. Where I live by the time a fire brigade gets here it be too late. you need to try and contain the fire yourself.

What I also notices is they all were begging them to put the fire out for an hour offering to pay. That hour filling up buckets of water and dirt would of gone a long way if that whole family worked together.

At the end of the day, when the fire got out of control the firefighters should of put it out and gave them a huge fine like $10000.

@Cobretti2:

In the video it said the fire took two hours to go from the barrels to the shed (barn whatever it was) not even the house.

THAT IS THE WORLDS SLOWEST FIRE EVER.

if they knew it took two hours the home owner saw the fire at the early stage in the barrels and could of put the thing out instead of them all rining the fire brigade to fix this.

That is absolutely true. Not to mention that he had enough time to get his pets outside the house. Seems like he left them there in an attempt to coerce the Firefighters to put out his house for free. He should be arrested for animal cruelty.

At the end of the day, when the fire got out of control the firefighters should of put it out and gave them a huge fine like $10000.

That would've been setting a bad example for the guy's neighbours.

Well not if it came with a huge fine.  Of course the problem is they CAN'T fine the guy since the guy lives outside of their incorporation.  Hell, the fire department probably could of been sued by the guy FOR putting out the fire.

The people trying to spin this for political gain are BEYOND hilarious though.

It's like complaining that their fire insurance won't cover everything that burned down because they didn't pay for home owners insurance.

The whole thing really can be summed up with a quote from the home owner.

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong,"

He himself provides the reason why they had no choice but to watch it burn.

The thing about the huge fine thing. People dn't require the services of the Fire Department very often (for eaxmple I thankfully have never used their services in my life). So many would risk it, however the Fire Department would go bakrupt if they only charged people when they were called upon.

As for the political thing, well if the Fire Department were privatised (like some politicians in America want to do in order to cut taxes, if I understand correctly), wouldn't stuff like this happen all the time?

Well, no.

If you privatised the fire departments it would work just like it does now.  It's just different groups would "Fight" for the cities contract every 5 years or so providing the best prices for the cities. 

Can't say i've EVER heard anyone argue for switching to an "insurance based" plan like this for the country.

This is just the solution of "unincorporated" areas and smaller towns that don't have the resources or tax base to make their own firedeparments/ambulances other such services.

The cities with the stuff don't have the right to tax them.  So it's either a subscription, or the town pays the city.

In this case... there might not even be a town.  Hell, it might be there is but the city can't  cover the entire unincorporated area he's in, hence why it needs to be a subscription based fee... cause they are too far away to reach most of the people.

Besides... this was a government run fire department.

Oh and as for the huge fine thing.  Who knows.  I mean, most people get house and apartment inusrance... very few people need that. 

If the fine is big enough people would get it just in case i'd think.  Not the best solution though, I agree.

Apparently, I guess the county the guy comes from has repeatidly voted against it being a mandatory part of the budget... and levies and taxes on that level have to be voted on by the people.

The people voting against this... are no doubt the same people who don't pay their fire insurance payments.

Afterall no doubt making it a tax would make the "fee" cheaper for each individual.

Either way, at least the people who's houses will burn down will be the same as those who don't want to pay for it.

Knowing this country... if the firefighters DID put out the fire, the guy would sue them for "water damaging" his property. 

Interesting thing people should probably read by the way...

From the Fire Chief... he sums it up all pretty well.  Makes sense and all, since he lives there and actually knows details about the area.

http://www.ucfdtn.com/

The events of the Cranick fire in Obion County Tennessee on Wednesday September 29th, 2010, have with no pun intended; created a “media fire storm.”

So much “finger pointing” has ensued, that the true facts of the incident have been blown out of proportion. The firefighters in this county are taking a beating when it is not their fault; nor is it the cities responsibility.  It’s a county problem.

The first point that needs to be noted is that Obion County Tennessee does not have a county fire department.  Secondly, no county tax revenues are even ear marked for county fire protection.

The county is made up of 8 municipalities which do provide fire protection to its city residents, through city property taxes, which fund their respective fire departments.

Three of theses cities, South Fulton; Kenton and Union City allow their departments to respond outside the city limits by way of a Subscription Service which charges a $75 yearly fee to receive fire protection.  After they respond to a “members” fire, the member is billed $500 for the response.

Why the $75 and a charge of $500?  This can be compared to any insurance.  You have a premium; the $75 and then you have a deductable; the $500.  The policy, of these cities is that if the fee isn’t paid, then the fire department does not respond.  The only exception being; life endangerment. (A report that someone may be inside the home.)

These fees help offset the cost of equipment and manpower, paid for by the city tax payers to help fight fires in the county.

The remaining 5 city fire departments have for years responded into the county without a subscription service, banking on collecting fees for their services, “after the fact.”  The problem has been, that once those people have been provided the service; they often seem to choose not to reimburse.  Attempting to charge on a per call basis does not generate the needed funds nor does it give county residents an incentive to support the cities, if they can wait until they actually have a fire to pay anything.

I wish my car insurance company would let me “wait” until I had an accident before I had to pay my premium.  Why should fire service be looked at any different?   The fire service has gotten expensive just like anything else.  If it is not run as a business it won’t be around for anybody.

Those city fathers have reached the point where they can no longer ‘foot the bill” for county residents using city tax payers monies.

The fire chiefs have spent four years working with the county to address the problem  Nothing short of a true fire tax will remedy the situation completely.  But for now the county at this time is considering everyone going to a subscription service.  Yes, this would help fund the remaining 5 departments, but it will not keep what happened to South Fulton from happening again.

No firefighter wants to see a home go up in flames; but especially for the volunteer departments, the cake sales and fish fries just don’t cut it anymore. One set of gear to out fit a firefighter can exceed $3,000.   A fire truck easily costs more than a quarter of a million dollars. How many cakes do you think it will take?  And who again is paying for this?  The “city” taxpayer. 

Mr. Cranick admitted he didn’t pay for the service.  He thought they would come anyway.  I feel because of insurance companies we do not take care of things as we should because we know they will bail us out. Lawyers, have caused us to want to blame everyone but ourselves and our country has gotten to a point where personal responsibility is no longer expected.  It’s not a good situation here.  As I said, the firefighters are taking a beating for something they have no control over.  They do not set policy.

This is a county problem and it is being forced on the cities.

Sincerely,

Kelly E Edmison
Chief of Department
Union City, TN

I don't think that would've happened, but you can be sure he wouldn't have payed the tax and fine.

You'd be surprised.  There are people who have pulled people out of burning cars that have exploded, that got sued by the person they saved because they were injured in the rescue.

And those people have won settlements.

Even though, you know... said person would of been exploded otherwise.

It's shockingly common.

People who's lives are saved via CPR sue because of chest bruises is the most common, i believe. 

"You gave me a bruise while saving my life.... I DEMAND MONEY!"

It can be a sad sad world sometimes.

Besides... if the guy isn't paying a $75 dollar annual fire insurance fee... what's the chances he has house insurance?

I know. You Americans are sue crazy! I remember a reading about a burglar who got stuck in the house he tried to rob and then sued the owners for kidnapping or something. Crazy stuff!

Though here in Romania we have the opposite problem. A doctor "accidentaly" chops off a guy's penis and the guy barely gets any money in court.

As for the insurance thing (now I don't know much about insurance, as insurance doesn't have a long tradition over here, and I myself don't have any insurance of any kind), but even if he had insurance, wouldn't the fact that he didn't pay the tax, thus putting his property in jeopardy make him loose his insurance?