fox@fury
Two Thoughts About the Subscription-Based Firefighter Story
Tuesday, Oct 05, 2010

You've definitely seen the by-standing firefighter story by now, but in case you haven't:

A local neighborhood is furious after firefighters watched as an Obion County, Tennessee, home burned to the ground.

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.

The mayor said if homeowners don't pay, they're out of luck.

This fire went on for hours because garden hoses just wouldn't put it out. It wasn't until that fire spread to a neighbor's property, that anyone would respond.

Turns out, the neighbor had paid the fee.

One: The neighbor probably has a case against the fire department. If the fire had started in an empty lot next to his home the fire department would have put the fire out. The fact that they deliberately withheld services until the fire actually started burning the subscriber's house is probably a breach of their agreement with the subscribing neighbor.

Two: Once the firefighters arrived at the scene, they may have had a Duty to Rescue, regardless of the payment status. Their right to stand idly by may have ended when they arrived at the scene as professional firefighters with firefighting equipment, prepared to fight a fire.

Also, three cats and a dog died in the fire. So fuck them.

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