Awww a firefighter with kittens......well actually there is more to it (I should have known)

[underpants]

I posted this 5 days ago - O'Reilly and John Stossel discussing the merits of private fire
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=512411

I understand how the process works- they lay out the initial talking points and then hammer them relentlessly but this is goes beyond the correction from a century ago that we made in this country. This is just plain mean.




Humane Society Condemns Subscription-Only Firefighters For Standing By And Letting Animals Die In Fire

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/08/humane-society-obion-county/

As ThinkProgress has been reporting all week, South Fulton Fire Department firefighters from Obion, Tennessee, stood by and watched as the Cranick family’s home burned down because their fire-fighting services were available on a subscription basis only, and the family had not paid the $75 fee. Immediately, right-wing writers at the conservative movement’s bulkhead magazine, The National Review, and conservative radio host Glenn Beck defended the county and argued that firefighting should not be a public service available to all, regardless of ability to pay.

The Cranicks revealed in an interview with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann that they lost four pets in the fire — three dogs and a cat. Now, the Human Society of the United States (HSUS) — the 11 million member-strong organization dedicated to animal welfare — has condemned the Obion County policy of only offering firefighting to rural residents through a subscription-based service. In their statement, the Humane Society writes that it’s “inexecusable that three dogs and a cat would have to die in such a horrible way, with firefighters ordered to not intervene, because of an unpaid $75 service fee“:

[madmax]

1. That despicable 75.00 fee

Really, what universe do we live in? I still can't believe that bullshit.

[underpants]

3. It is a fee not a part of taxes

semantics

that is the world we live in

[kestrel91316]

7. Well, that and the little fact that, if you haven't paid your county taxes,

nobody tells the fire department. They will still save your burning home or try.

[madmax]

17. Disgusting isn't it

a house burns to the ground, pets perish and it's a matter of sematics. What a world. Are we going to ever change it? Not in my life time but, maybe someday.

[yankeepants]

2. And in an NPR interview

One of the Cranick's sons when asked about what was lost tearfully told how that his parents lost his grandmother's bible, his other grandmother's bible and his father's favorite aunt's bible.

No mention of real living creatures just fairytale books.

[underpants]

4. Oh great! Bibles AND kittens

:eyes: yep that is just about the right's type of thing

[Obamanaut]

21. Did he also talk about how the fire started from burning some trash and

debris, and spread to the house over a period of time? Or that the weather had been dry for awhile (in my area we don't burn trash/debris when the weather has been dry - trash/debris defined as limbs, clippings, etc)

[yankeepants]

22. He said he lit a trash barrel beside the garage

and then went in to take a shower.

[Obamanaut]

23. Well, there you go. Don't pay the fee, do something imprudent, expect

someone to correct that imprudence.

[thunder rising]

5. I think the FD can be sued for damages. Professionals that respond must act, since they give the

illusion that the emergency is being addressed and actually stops somebody else from taking action.

[davidinalameda]

6. if they had paid the $75, none of this would have happened

the pets would still be alive

no one forced the Cranicks to not live outside the city limits and no one forced them not to pay the $75

I hope the county goes after them for animal abuse-they are responsible for the deaths of their pets

[kestrel91316]

8. Would you say this if they were unemployed or had otherwise fallen on hard times

and couldn't pay the fire dept fee if it were, say, $750??

Remind me to cut you off completely from the social safety net if the opportunity ever arises. You have outed yourself.

[whistler162]

12. Or what if they where illegal aliens....

from Venus!

Spin it anyway you want but the majority of the fault lies with the county and the Cranick's!

The county for not funding the fire department they authorized and instead freeloading off of the cities in the nearby area that have fire departments. The Cranick's for deciding to roll the dice and not supporting, by the subscription fee, the fire department near them that would come out in an emergency IF the resident did one thing, payy a $75 fee. The fee which according to reports the residents where given multiple chance to pay during the year.

Maybe the bad press will get Obion county to do its job, so far it doesn't look that way. One thing I can forsee is the city departments cutting back or off allowing their departments to respond to emergencies outside of their jurisdiction. To costly in money and bad press!

[davidinalameda]

16. thank you

someone who understands what actually happened

[davidinalameda]

14. they weren't unemployed

and it wasn't $750

nice try though

[tavalon]

11. You have expressed what I consider a highly inappropriate opinion

There are other ways I could express this but my comment would be deleted. Professionals who respond have the responsibility to fucking respond. I'm a nurse and I don't ever ask if a person's insurance is paid up before I care for them. Ever. Ever. Ever. I could go on but I hope you get what I'm trying to say here. Do you?

[davidinalameda]

15. this was a subscription service

they didn't subscribe so they weren't entitled to the service

the only reason that the fire department was in the area was because the fire had spread to their neighbors' home and they had paid their subscription

[tavalon]

18. That is wrong

as in evil.

Granted, I'm a socialist so I believe public works should all be under the purview of public service paid for by taxes, more taxes for the have mores, less for the have less.

I used to call myself a bleeding heart liberal but really I'm a bleeding heart socialist.

[davidinalameda]

19. it is but that's the way it is

the service was paid for by the taxes of those who lived within the city limits but not those outside

without going back and rereading the articles-I believe that the county commission had tried to pass some sort of measure so that fire service would be provided to those living outside the city limits but it was defeated so the subscription service stayed in place

[Hannah Bell]

20. as a nurse you get a regular salary paid by your hospital or clinic.

you don't rely on subscriptions from each individual patient.

your hospital/clinic administration will check whether they have insurance before you're even in the picture.

doubt you'd go out on every call if your salary stopped.

particularly in a 500-sq mile county.

the city of south fulford has one paid employee. the rest are volunteers from the city. city taxes pay the chief's salary only, & fund every piece of equipment they have, & a pumper truck costs $600K.

the county has repeatedly refused to organize or fund its own volunteer fire service.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Rochester]

9. Never mind ability to pay, it should not be based on willingness to pay either.

Fire protection is a right. The county should have been FORCED to levy a tax to pay for it, if necessary.
There are many things that no one should be allowed to do, not even if they are willing to live with the consequences. One of them is forgo fire protection.

[REP]

10. Nothing of value to add but that is a great photo.