You'd expect King George to let one of the colonists' homes burn over money owed to the crown in 1773, but a local American government letting a constituent's home burn over $75 in unpaid fire taxes in 2010?
I was truly at a loss for words when I read about this happening. Imagine the sight...in an America where since 9/11, we have elevated the firefighter up to a well-deserved position of heroism and the embodiment of all that is good with America, firefighters literally standing and watching a home burn over $75. A man lost his home, all of his possessions, and even worse, witnessed his three dogs and cat burn to death as his home went up in flames. Again, all over $75.
Gene Cranick, who lives in a rural area outside the city limits of South Fulton, Tennessee is required to pay $75 per year to be covered by the South Fulton Fire Department. While Gene had paid the $75 for the previous two years, he claims to have forgotten to pay it this year. So, when Gene's home caught fire and the South Fulton Fire Department arrived on scene, the "firefighters" literally refused to fight the fire that was engulfing his home. They laid a water line around a neighbor's home, who had paid the $75, to ensure that Cranick's fire did't spread, but as for Cranick, he was on his own.
I cannot think of a more un-American story that I have read in a long time, though I must say, America, my definition of you is rapidly changing because of stories like this.
I would like my America to have firefighters like the men and women who risked their lives on 9/11, like the men and women who risk their lives day in and day out in this country everyday. I do not want my America to have firefighters that make me think of Fahrenheit 451 and a government that would let your home burn to the ground, let your pets burn to death, all over $75...all over what you owe the government.
I'll spare you the tirade over America's changing landscape and how if we keep on this course, the government will one day tell us when we can go to the bathroom, but you can see what I am getting at here.
$75? Firemen standing around, watching a man's home burn to the ground and his animals being killed. Here? In my America? Over $75?
The only good part of the story is that Gene's son, Timothy, went down to the fire house to lodge a complaint and ended up punching Fire Chief David Wilds in the face. Sorry, Chief, you had that one coming. Let's hope the judge goes easy on Timothy and takes into consideration the special circumstances of the case.
I also take issue with what City Manager Jeff Vowell had to say about the situation: "I have no problem with the way any of my people handled the situation. They did what they were supposed to do. It's a regrettable situation any time something like this happens."
I am really hoping that City Manager Jeff Vowell lives outside city limits at one point and forgets to pay his $75 so we can see how "regrettable" he feels that situation ends up being.
I tried to send a comment to the city on their website, but it seems server traffic may be keeping the messages from getting through. Or, the city has grown tired of criticism and disabled certain methods of contacting them.
The message I wanted to send was: "I hope that you relish in the negative publicity and public outcry that your city and its local government have earned from the rest of America. The first question that popped into my head is whether or not your "fire" department would have acted to extinguish the fire had Mr. Cranick paid you in cash there on the scene. Had I been standing there, I'd have paid the $75 for him. To allow the destruction of Mr. Cranick's property and the deaths of his animals over $75 is absolutely ridiculous. Your city, it's local government and your policies are a wildly apt example of what is wrong with America today. You should all be very proud of yourselves. You embody everything that America should NOT be."
I still find this all so unbelievable and wrong.
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