Fire Fighters Refuse to Fight Fire, Homeowners Forgot to Pay Fee

Discussion in 'Politics' started by spidergoat, Oct 6, 2010.

  1. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html

    So, there's a $75 dollar fee if you want fire fighters to put out your house if you live South of the city limits. Apparently, the couple usually pays the fee but forgot this year. The fire fighters put out the neighbor's house after the fire spread there (they had paid the fee). By the way, every seat on the County Commission there is filled by Republicans. It would have raised the property tax 13 cents per house to have universal fire coverage.

    This is amazing. This the future, you limited government, no tax morons. I happen to think that some basic public services are good for society.
     
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  3. Bells Staff Member

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    I think what made this even worse is that they actually sat and watched the house burn, after they had responded to put out the spreading fire in the neighbours field. And they stopped at the fenceline from the neighbour's property.

    The homeowner, Mr Cranick and his family, lost their home, all their belongings and their pets in the blaze. All while the fire brigade sat in their trucks and watched and did nothing at all to help.

    Seriously, what the hell?

    Again, what the hell?

    They let a house burn to the ground and let those pets die because of $75? A $75 they said they'd pay immediately and were refused because they were told it was too late by then?
     
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  5. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    Yes, tried to cheap it out, that $75.00 figures out to .20 cents a day.

    Now where is the proof that the every seat on the County Commission there is filled by Republicans?

    Now guess what just like the Police the Fire Department has no obligation to protect the individual at large.
     
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  7. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    It seems like a silly way to fund the fire department. It should be funded with property taxes or other such tax....not a fee.

    How do they respond to medical emergencies? Do you have to pay them $100 before they rescue you or your family if they should have a medical emergency? What if you are just passing through the municipality?

    I hear beck an Fox were defending the fire department this evening.
     
  8. Bells Staff Member

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    24,270
    I think that's kind of beside the point.

    They offered to pay immediately when they were reminded that they had failed to pay it and were refused. Or did that escape you?

    Can't you read links?

    Voila.. It was linked earlier. All you had to do was read it. Lazy much Buffalo?

    You are actually defending this?
     
  9. Bells Staff Member

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    24,270
    I'd be curious.. What would the reaction have been if people had actually died or been injured as a result of their sitting in their trucks and watching the fire destroy the property? What if someone was trapped in the house or on the property? Would they have gotten out of their trucks and done something then? Or would they refuse because he'd failed to pay his $75 on time? Why did they refuse to let him pay it then and there, as he'd offered, if that $75 was so important?

    It is inconceivable that this can happen in a Western country in this day and age. They pay their taxes, which would fund the municipal costs that the fire brigade would have to access, such as the roads and the water.. Which is ironic really in this case..

    I wonder if their insurers are going to do anything about it..
     
  10. Neverfly Banned Banned

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    3,576
    I find this wording very biased.
    It presents conservatism as dark and meager.
    The "other vision" - A PROGRESSIVE one, the American Dream...

    C'mon- very blatant bias in writing.

    Moving along...

    The way I see it, and the way things operate here... That Annual $75 is little to pay. Any self respecting rescue organization does the saving FIRST and settles up after.
    For a mere $75, I'd be confident that the fee would be collected.
    The attitude at work of "Too late" is appalling and disgusting.
    They should have put the fire out and settled with the man later on the annual due fees.

    I disagree.

    These men are humans, not robots.
    They had a choice to stand by and do Nothing.

    I've been Volunteer Fire department (Not paid, nor full time) but I can speak from experience--- My guys wouldn't have just stood there and watched a mans HOME Burn to the ground while the homeowner pleaded and begged. Even if he didn't offer to pay anything. Even if the President himself was standing there barking orders to "Do Nothing! He didn't pay the little fee on time!"
    We'd have been hooking up hoses. Even if we had to cover the little $75 ourselves.

    Those in charge of this little operation took 'zero tolerance' style of thinking to extremes.
    This smacks of a man having a heart attack and the paramedics refusing to save his life because he didn't pay his $75 fee last year.
     
  11. 786 Searching for Truth Valued Senior Member

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    3,089
    Just like the military. Robotic idiots.

    Peace be unto you

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  12. Bells Staff Member

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    24,270
    I don't disagree with you.

    I just find this whole thing bizarre. That for $75 that he had forgotten to pay, they actually sat there and watched as his house and his pets burned. That they went to the aid of the neighbour, who had paid, when the fire spread to his property and they actually stopped at the fenceline. You watch the videos from the links provided and you ask yourself what the hell..?

    What is worse, is that when he apparently called the fire brigade, he was told that he was not on the list as he had failed to pay his service fees. At that point, the fire was slowly approaching the house. He then begged to be allowed to pay it then and there and was told it was too late. When they arrived to put out the fire in the neighbours field, he again begged to pay and they refused, instead they sat and watched as it consumed his house and then drove away. The reporters on the scene filmed them doing it.

    That for a forgotten fee, they could allow a family's home to burn to the ground, along with their pets.. There are really no words that I can use in this forum to describe it.

    Exactly.

    I wonder, what if the Cranicks had been involved in a car accident and they were trapped in their car and the car caught fire. Would they have stood by and let them burn and die in said car because they had failed to pay the service fee? Would the paramedics have offered them help or transport if they had been injured in their house fire or would they have refused because of that forgotten $75 bill? What if they were trapped in the house? Would they have responded then? Or would they have said the same thing which amounted to 'Sorry, you're not on the list so we are not going to help you'?

    I think most decent human beings would have done something.
     
  13. Neverfly Banned Banned

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    I wonder if you're aware that I'm military, U.S. Army?
    Your bias against military personal is both misplaced and absurd.

    That really sums it up.

    I don't think this is a Political issue. I think that the average person of any political persuasion, had they been standing there watching, would have not agreed that the fire department should have taken immediate action.

    I think that this is a case of absurd stubborn stupidity. One in which those in charge forgot that they had brains. It's a Zero Tolerance style thinking gone awry.
     
  14. Bells Staff Member

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  15. Ganymede Valued Senior Member

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    3,322
    You know when Republicans are sitting on the city council they raise "fee's" instead of taxes. This was a huge debate in my cogressional district, the Republican nominee Abram Wilson raised a ton fee's when he served as mayor of San Ramon. So whenever they need money, they just raise fee's then lambast the Dem's for raising taxes. However, it's still the same, more money out of the pockets of your constituents.
     
  16. 786 Searching for Truth Valued Senior Member

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    3,089
    Well the military just follows orders like the Firefighters did here. Like was quoted in the article- they did what they were told and were not at fault.

    I don't care if you're part of the military- they are just robotic idiots who just follow orders... there are people who disagree with the war who are fighting- but they still fight.

    Peace be unto you

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  17. Trooper Secular Sanity Valued Senior Member

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    1,784
    I’m not defending Glenn Becks behavior, but not one person here feels that there should be some level of accountability?

    What if I didn’t pay my health or car insurance? When I have an accident, should I then be allowed to pay it, and have coverage, or ask all of you to chip in? It’s not a pay as you go system. The overall system would collapse if everyone was allowed to behave this way. If everyone else in the neighborhood didn’t pay their fee, there wouldn’t even be a fire department.

    Society works well with a tit for tat system. Reciprocal altruism has advantages. There are already too many cheaters. There has to be some way to regulate cheaters, and in this case it sounds like they chose the moralist route, by educating, or even punishing the cheater. He was a cheater and he knew it.

    "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.
     
  18. Bells Staff Member

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    24,270
    It is an emergency service. They pay their taxes. That should suffice.

    If they are so intent on the extra fee for rural residents, they could have billed him afterwards.

    But consider what you are saying. That emergency services should be withheld if people forget to pay a fee. When he was made aware that he had not paid the fee, he offered to pay the fee and/or whatever it took. And he was told no.

    And then, to make this that little bit worse, the fire brigade arrived to put out the spreading fire in the neighbours field and then sat and watched the man's house burn and then drove off. They did not check to make sure there was no one inside the house. They allowed that family's house and property to burn to the ground, along with their pets, for $75.

    Where is the accountability of the firemen in those trucks who sat there and watched his house and pets burn to the ground?
     
  19. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    16,931
    Now where did it say they forgot to pay in the article?


    I did read the link and no where did it say that the whole county board was Republican.....

    Yes, Bells go to the link and point out the Republicans on the list please.....I see a list of every official, but what I don't see is any party affiliation

    http://www.obiongop.com/?page_id=85

    Yes, Bells please highlight the Republicans on the list.


    Bells, go crash your car with out insurance and then try and collect from the insurance company, the guy didn't pay, no where did he state that He forgot to pay, he just didn't pay, trying to cheap out, yes try and buy fire protection from the insurance company when your house catches fire, it don't work that way.

    20 cents a day vs: $100,000+ lose of a home? yes stupidity.
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2010
  20. Buffalo Roam Registered Senior Member

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    16,931
    No Bells they didn't pay their taxes, they are in a different taxing district, the county, not the city.

    There is no county fire department, only city and for the city to operate out side of the city limits a...Fee must be paid.

    There also would be a problem with insurance coverage of the Fire Fighters if they would be injured responding to a Fire that was not in their jurisdiction, that is why that fee must be paid to create a contractual obligation.
     
  21. Neverfly Banned Banned

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    3,576
    Let me make something very clear...

    You have No idea what you are talking about.

    And I don't give a fuck about what the Moderators or anyone else thinks- If you said that to my face I'd lay your sorry ass out on the pavement knocked out cold. You smarmy little Prick.

    You dare speak when You have no burden to carry, no idea what combat is like or the heavy choice made to honor commitment. To take a persons LIFE and try to cope with the sleepless nights after.
    And you think soldiers blindly follow orders? How the hell would you know?
    A soldiers DUTY includes questioning through the chain of command.
    It's part of the CREED:
     
  22. Trooper Secular Sanity Valued Senior Member

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    1,784
    Ten bucks says you’ll apologize by tomorrow…

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    If you feel so strongly about it, why not take up a collection, and reward the little cheater with a brand new home. I for one am sick of people taking advantage of others. Why should we be obligated to give to cheaters, without receiving anything in return? Look at this quote from another cheater. Yep! He’s a cheater and a lazy piece of crap.
    The fire department is associated with the city and the county residents don't pay taxes to support them. The county residents are required to pay $75 per year in order to receive services from the fire department.

    Hopefully, he was smart enough to pay his home owners insurance…:mufc:
     
  23. Bells Staff Member

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    24,270
    Here is but one:

    Then you cannot read. Here is what the link said:

    A local newspaper further pressed Mayor Crocker about the city’s policy, which has been in place since 1990. Crocker, a Republican who was elected in 2008 and serves with a county commission where every seat is also filled by a Republican...


    http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/04/county-firefighters-subscription/

    Can't have read it at all..

    I am guessing the reporters who researched the story and those who are local to the area know more than you do.

    Read the link.

    Can you prove them wrong? If yes, do so.

    What do you know, the names match with the Obion GOP website..

    Seriously, are you that dim?

    Look up top.. Notice the website you linked says "obiongop" in the web address?

    It's an emergency service. And even when he offered to pay, they refused. He'd begged them to take the money before the fire even got to his house and they refused.

    Tell me, would they have been justified if someone had been trapped in that house and they refused to respond? What is a human life worth in county fees?

    They could very well have put out the fire, saved his house before the fire got to it and then billed him. Or better yet, they could have taken the money he was begging them to take to save his house. But what is more vital is that they could have acted like decent human beings and actually done their job and put out the fire and saved his house and his pets.

    Tell me Buffalo, what if he'd been in a car or farm equipment accident on his property? Would they have been justified in refusing to come to his aid because he'd forgotten to pay a $75 fee? What if his grandchildren had been trapped on the property? Would they have been justified in refusing to render the emergency services they are supposed to provide?

    This whole scenario is obscene and it is even more obscene that people actually try to defend it.
     

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