Monday, October 04, 2010

At the risk of seeming heartless

Seventy-five bucks suddenly doesn't seem so expensive, does it?

The homeowner, Gene Cranick, said he offered to pay whatever it would take for firefighters to put out the flames, but was told it was too late.  They wouldn't do anything to stop his house from burning.

Each year, Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton.  But the Cranicks did not pay.

***

"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," said Gene Cranick.
Let me be perfectly clear: I would have the greatest sympathy for the Cranicks if they couldn't afford the annual fee.  But there's no hint of that in the story.  Mr. Cranick outright said he thought the fire fighters would do it anyway.

Here in Texas, we have a lot of volunteer fire departments.  They're a great service to rural areas (and some not-so-rural: Windcrest has a VFD, & it's one of the most affluent suburbs of SA).  But professional fire fighters aren't volunteers.  They don't come free.

I just don't see how it's reasonable to expect professional fire fighters from another city to provide you protection and service for free.

Does it suck for the Cranicks?  Yep.  The stuff that they decided they'd rather buy than pay $75 a year to protect is now charcoal.  I'm curious how their insurance company will respond to this claim. 

I wonder how you get to the age where you have grandchildren and still have a whopping sense of entitlement.

7 comments:

Charlene said...

Yep, entitlement.

I am also curious how the insurance company handles this and I'll bet there's sweet little fine print clause that addresses the matter of an insured not paying the fee, actually a tax, to support the fire department.

TOTWTYTR said...

Chances are their insurance was high because of the lack of a FD in their own town. Chances are even better that they won't be able to get insurance the next time.

I think if I lived in a rural area (or any area) where the response of the FD was questionable and I was building or renovating, I'd spend some money on a fire sprinkler system.

suz said...

I'll bet lower property taxes (that don't cover fire protection) were a factor in his decision to purchase that house. You get what you pay for.

the pistolero said...

$75 lower per year? I'd think to most homeowners that would be peanuts.

Charlene said...

This story was on TV last night. The man stated his insurance company were very helpful and he will get what his home was insured for. He added, of course it wasn't insured for enough. I'm not surprised!

He said he just forgot to pay it.

Also, he said his son's house caught on fire another time and they came and put it out and he went in and paid the $75 the next day, so he figured they'd do that for him too.

Charlene said...

Tonight on the news his address at the local bank was published so that the thousands of people who want to contribute money for him have a place to send it.

suz said...

Check it out on the Facebook page - Life With Dogs. I usually enjoy the page, but some of the comments are flat-out irrational. 3 dogs died in the fire, and sympathy is growing for the idiot homeowner, although it was reported that he had time to save them himself. This clown is not alone in his sense of entitlement.