more info

Post #352,308 by SpiceWare 12/23/11 5:48:35 PM Reply	more info in the comments from somebody apparently in the area: http://thinkprogress...family-home-burn/ Okay, fine, here's the deal: for over 20 years, the County of Obion has tried to solve this problem. Three times there was vote for a fire levy for the county to provide fire protection for rural residents and 3 times the rural residents voted it down. So the city of South Fulton stepped up, pretty much out of the kindness of their hearts, and volunteered to cover what area they could with their own fire protection service (which is paid for by the taxes of the city of South Fulton - not a dime of a rural Obion resident contributes to it) for a very modest fee, much less than the levy the residents had voted on repeatedly.... They cannot cover as much as they would in the city - in the rural areas there are no fire hydrants or other ways to pump water with pressure, so basically they have to bring whatever water they can with them. ... South Fulton even takes the time to send a notice every year to remind you your fire levy is due. The gentleman whose house burned last year, Mr Crannick, got his yearly notice, 3 reminder letters, and 3 reminders phone calls over a period of 9 months. To each reminder he promised to pay the $75. He never did.
Post #352,331 by pwhysall 12/24/11 1:56:46 AM Reply	Re: more info Doesn't change a thing. They let his house burn down for $75. The chiselling, grasping shits. Just lucky there was no-one in the house, I suppose. I liked this comment: "Oh yeah, we're a Christian nation alright. Well, except for all that New Testament hippie crap, obviously."
Post #352,335 by crazy 12/24/11 6:35:01 AM Reply	Maybe not to you Ding Dong! Hi there neighbor. Would you like to share my lovely fire service with me? It cost me a few million dollars, it has lots of people and shiny parts, and you might want it to save your house or life some day. How much? Well, we've already got a lot of sunk costs into it, and our main base of customers are "captive", and we are paid for, so while it may cost us hundreds per year per house we serve, we'll cut you a break, and charge you a MEASLY $75. Even though we have to travel farther to get to you and every call will cost us more than the norm. Nah, don't want. You sure? This is a TINY price to pay compared to the service we are providing. If you have a fire, it can end up costing many thousands of dollars per hour for some type of fire response. Yup, I'm sure. $75 is too much for me. I'd rather throw the dice. If you don't pay, we are NOT going to send our pretty toys and people to save your property or even possibly your life. If we do show up, it'll be to hang around and make sure the fire does not jump to your neighbor's property who has chosen to engage our service. As a matter of fact, our insurance company PROHIBITS us from entering the burning property of a non-customer, so we are well trained to ignore it. We cannot risk the multi-million dollar lawsuit when someone sues us for screwing up a "save". We will NOT help you at all in that situation. Are you SURE you do not want to pay the $75? Sure, I'm sure. Now you sound like you are extorting me! Screw you jack, you ain't getting any money out of me. F'off. SLAM!! Lather rinse repeat this conversation MANY times over MANY years over MANY people. You ever run into a burning building for someone who told you to f'off? Doubt it.
Post #352,350 by pwhysall 12/24/11 3:24:13 PM Reply	Re: Maybe not to you Just invoice the homeowner if the $75 is all that important. Having private insurance for things that are better off being public services is ridiculous anyway. Worked example: American healthcare system.
Post #352,365 by crazy 12/24/11 9:23:54 PM Reply	No Doesn't work that way. If it was ONLY $75 after the fact, then NO ONE would pay. $75 before, $20,000 or more after.
Post #352,343 by Another Scott 12/24/11 11:15:17 AM Reply	Pretty much agreed. Also, who gets billed? The resident or the homeowner? News stories seem to conflate the two. If the owner is billed but the person living there is renting, then...? And vice versa? Also too: http://rt.com/usa/ne...ay-fire-bell-299/ In a nearby town, Gene Cranick lost his home in a fire last October and says he just forgot to pay his insurance. He begged firemen and offered them money to put out the blaze to no avail while they sat by and watched. He lost four pets and his home in the blaze. In the adjacent community of Blount County, such spontaneous coverage can be purchase if an annual fee of $110 doesnÂt seem reasonable. In lieu of the subscription, people there can pay $2,200 for the first two hours that firefighters are on the scene if they forfeit the annual fee. [...] Fire Chief Doug McClanahan of Blount County says his own department has revised their policy after that incident in Obion. ÂHaving subscribers is a good thing, but to punish people to the point that you donÂt do anything for them is wrong,Â he tells The Daily Times. There are several ways the towns can cover their costs from adjacent jurisdictions. This Galtian 'pay first or burn' policy of South Fulton TN is stupid and needs to be changed. Cheers, Scott.

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