South Fulton, TN is about 5 miles from my ancestor's homesteads
and my summer stomping grounds, so I took an interest in this article.
For me, it does not pass the sniff (Snopes) test.
This looks to me more like a political ploy that was picked up
and spread across the nation by the news media.
Here is a 2010 article with the
same story, but with different names.
Yahoo News
Oct 5, 2010
Rural Tennessee fire sparks conservative ideological debate
Quote:
Here's the short version of what happened:
In rural Obion County, homeowners must pay $75 annually
for fire protection services from the nearby city of South Fulton.
If they don't pay the fee and their home catches fire, tough luck --
even if firefighters are positioned just outside the home with hoses at the ready.
When Cranick's house caught fire last week, and he couldn't contain the blaze with garden hoses, he called 911.
During the emergency call, he offered to pay all expenses related to the Fire Department's defense of his home,
but the South Fulton firefighters refused to do anything.
<snip>
The incident has sparked a debate in many corners of the Web.
Writers for the National Review, arguably the nation's most influential right-leaning voice,
have seized on the episode to discuss the relative merits of
compassionate conservatism versus a hard-line libertarianism
|
P.S. The embedded video of this incident is
"no longer available"
-----------------
This is from a 2008 report presented to the Obion County Study Committee
A Presentation Regarding The Establishment And Implementation of a County-Wide Fire Department
Quote:
The municipal fire departments which utilize a subscription service
are not bound to and do not respond to fires on rural properties
which do not have a subscription for fire service.
The only rural property owners guaranteed to receive fire protection services are those who choose to pay for it.
It they choose not to purchase an annual subscription and require fire protection services,
they fall on the mercy of a municipal department who provide services on an as needed basis.
When such occurs, the responding fire department normally provides those services without compensation.
According to survey information, over 75% of all municipal fire department’s structure calls are rural.
All fire departments in Obion County charge a $500.00 fee per call in rural areas,
but collections are, less than 50% and the fire departments have no way of legally collecting the charge.
Therefore, the service was provided at the expense of the municipal tax payer.
|