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Author Topic: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee  (Read 13346 times)

bblackwood

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #60 on: October 08, 2010, 10:52:58 PM »

 
Just an FYI:

Quote:

My name is Kelly Edmison. Chief of Union City Fire Dept. Union City TN. OBION County. We are 1 of the 8 city fire dept’s in Obion County. My department is the only fully paid dept.

Even though my department (Union City, TN) was not the department involved, it has been extremely hard viewing the news media storm this past week; especially, when no one has reported the truth about the situation yet.

Watching news cast after news cast with miss information makes me wonder just how much “other” news we see nightly about our country and world events is turned and twisted.

Obion County Tennessee does not have a county fire department. It does have 8 municipal fire departments. Union City, TN is the only full time staffed department in the county. The other 7 departments are volunteer departments; but like Union City, are city departments. Again, Obion County does not have a county fire department. Sadly, Obion County is one of two counties in the state who do not provide fire protection. County residents do pay county taxes. However, no tax money goes towards fire coverage. The 8 municipal departments are funded by each of their city tax payers.

Three of the cities, Union City, Kenton and South Fulton operate a subscription fire service in an attempt to help the rural people in their respective areas. Union City has operated this way for over 47 years. They all three charge a $75 per year fee. It’s not a tax. It’s not mandatory. But the service is there if they wish. The reason these three charge a fee, is because the cities do not feel it fair to take the city tax payers money and service and give it to county residents for free.

Their policies are the same. With the exception of a life endanger; if you don’t pay; they don’t come.

However, once South Fulton had to respond to take care of the neighbor whose property caught fire and was a subscriber, that’s the point where in my opinion the outcome probably would have been different. But I’m not South Fulton.

But here is what the public doesn’t understand. Right, wrong or indifferent, it was not the decision of the South Fulton Fire Chief or of his firefighters to not put water on the structure. Their orders came from their city manager and mayor and council. Was it wrong? Everyone has an opinion (We would have put it out if for no other reason than that we had to come anyway and that was the damn fire that was endangering the neighbor who had the coverage.) If they had tried to put it out the chief would have been fired, the fire fighters terminated and there wouldn’t have been any body left to help fight fire for the majority of the rural residents in their area who do pay the annual fee.

The remaining 5 departments (city departments) in the county have been going out into the county without a subscription service with the hope that after responding they will bill the home owner and collect. It hasn’t been working. One of these departments even though it is a city department, has to get change out of their outside coke machine that sits on the front of their station just to have money to put fuel in their tank. They get very little help from their own city, let alone NO revenue from the county. Financially these departments will be forced to either go to a subscription based service or draw back into their respective city limits. If that happens, there won’t be any fire protection in three quarters of the county.

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.

The state of TN guarantees that as a tax payer; city or county, you are promised two things. One, garbage pickup will be provided. And two, law enforcement will be provided. Fire service apparently isn’t considered that important.

What people need to know is the fire problem in Obion County is NOT South Fulton’s problem or any of the other 7 departments. It’s a county problem.

The other 7 city chiefs and myself have been working with the county for over four years now in trying to convince then to go with a fire tax like most counties in this country operate and we would all gladly get rid of this subscription crap. The county currently wants all cities to go subscription and the county will collect and distribute.

I as an individual have been catching holy hell this week from all over the country, and wasn’t even the department involved. All I have been trying to do is defend some brother firefighters who weren’t given a choice as to what they could do; defending a program, though not perfect has been a successful program in Union City at least for over 47 years. South Fulton has run theirs for 20. It’s kept the doors open and help provided protection to a majority of rural customers in our Union City area who if it were not for the blessing of our city government would not have any fire protection what so ever because the County still does not want to pass a fire tax for county residents.

It has been one week. Not one letter to the editor has appeared in any of the papers. I’m not hearing complaints from the county residents. I’m only getting my ... chewed out from one end of the country to the other. I apologize for interrupting your forum. It’s late; I’m mad, and I wanted to vent. Honestly, this has been the most civil forum I have come across. And the only one I have taken part it.

Hope you all stay safe and please never judge until you have the facts.
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Brad Blackwood
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Edvaard

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #61 on: October 09, 2010, 01:19:28 AM »


That's essentially how I had it pictured, especially about the locals knowing exactly what happened and how, so not seeing reason to make a fuss over it.
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danickstr

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #62 on: October 10, 2010, 06:08:11 PM »

was that post from another forum or a PM?
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Nick Dellos - MCPE  

Food for thought for the future:              http://http://www.kurzweilai.net/" target="_blank">http://www.kurzweilai.net/www.physorg.com

Hank Alrich

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #63 on: October 11, 2010, 12:01:22 AM »

TotalSonic wrote on Wed, 06 October 2010 03:17

This is an a great example of how being sticklers for the letter of a law can completely undermine every bit of common sense.  Utter BS that they couldn't just have collected the fee retroactively (with a "late fee" penalty as well) on that day from the home owner, and just helped someone in need out, and I'd be willing to be that the home owner would have been the first to pay his annual fee from that day on.  
When a society puts cash (and a piddling amount at that) way before simple decency, all just to "teach someone a lesson" then you've got a problem.  And if that's a "socialist" thought then I'm proud to be a pinko.  
Reading things like this makes me even prouder of the NYC Fire Dept. than I already was.  Best force around.  

Best regards,
Steve Berson


I live outside a small town (circa 2k pop) in northeastern California. I live outside of the fire district. In the 26 years we have lived here the local volunteer fire department has been here three times to suppress fires that started due to relatives temporarily living with us who had little clue about wood heat and proper stove operation. The fire fighters were not and are not obligated to save our home. They have done so three times, and they have done so cheerfully. They would be here tonight within ten minutes were any of us to call for help. They have never asked me for a penny.

This is the value of living in a community. We all know that the shoe can easily wind up on the other foot.

In this valley are people of many viewpoints and beliefs, people whose socio-political-religious values are all over the map and many diametrically opposed. When the chips are down around here nobody gives a crap about that stuff. It's "all shoulders to the wheel and let's get on with it".

In my mind there is nothing "rational" about willfully allowing the destruction of a community member's property. If what goes around comes around, then some bad stuff is going to show up close to "home" for those who believe this kind of behavior is okay. Never mind the seventy-five bucks. The real cost there will exceed that, considerably.

YZ

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #64 on: October 11, 2010, 07:59:05 AM »

Hank Alrich wrote on Mon, 11 October 2010 01:01


This is the value of living in a community.


Word.

That's what _civilization_ is supposed to mean.


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regards,

YZ

xpulsar

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #65 on: October 21, 2010, 01:07:34 AM »

Hallams wrote on Tue, 05 October 2010 23:45

My take as an outsider(ie non American) is this discussion is more an example of ideology triumphing over common sense. In Australia if there is a fire anywhere, a phone call will bring the fire brigade, no questions asked. If an alarm goes off in the school where i work because i used the smoke machine without switching off the smoke detector, as has happened, the school cops a $2000 call fee.....i see no real problem here as well.

  As taxes are payed...some services are deemed to be essential and provided by govt. In my opinion, common sense dictates Fire fighting is one such essential service. It is a fact that Oz, the Brits and USA have moved significantly towards a user pay provision of many of the services that were formally provided through public infrastructures, and i know most of the arguments for this but sometimes the baby gets thrown out with the bath water!
 Fire fighters standing by watching a house, that is also someones home, burn to the ground, is a clear example of the implementation of the economic rationalist paradigm that sickens me to the core.
 If that's where our planet is heading, and otherwise well meaning compassionate people can justify this sort of directionality, then stop the world...... i want no part in it.


I completely agree!

-Collin
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YZ

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #67 on: October 21, 2010, 03:22:00 PM »

Key statement from the link above:
Quote:

You have to trust your (insurance) company to be smart and to be honest. Who trusts anyone, any more?
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regards,

YZ

Tidewater

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #68 on: November 06, 2010, 02:50:15 AM »

2 things:

1. I hate to see a dumbass lose everything in a fire.
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Edvaard

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Re: firefighter let home burn down because owner's didn't pay fee
« Reply #69 on: November 06, 2010, 07:35:37 AM »


Just more of media's regionally plucked fluff and puff for national Peyton Place focus anyways.

Like the 18 month old baby that got stuck in a well in Texas ~ 20 years ago, except the dumbass in TN wasn't nearly as cute or nearly as smart.

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