Home burns in Tennessee while firefighters watch because of unpaid fee

SOUTH FULTON, TN — A mobile home burned to the ground in Tennessee while the local fire department did nothing. Vicky Bell called 911 when her home caught fire, but once fire fighters arrived, they couldn’t help her because of a $75 unpaid annual fee to the local fire department.

“In an emergency, the first thing you think of, ‘Call 9-1-1,” Bell said. Bell and her husband were forced to walk into their burning home in hopes to collect their belongings. “You could look out my mom’s trailer and see the trucks sitting at a distance,” Bell said. “We just wished we could’ve gotten more out.”

Residents in the city of South Fulton receive the fire service automatically, but those who live in the surrounding county area don’t. That is unless they pay the annual $74 fee.

“There’s no way to go to every fire and be able to keep up the manpower, the equipment, and just the funding for the fire department,” said South Fulton Mayor David Crocker. “By now, everyone should know about the city’s fire policy. After the last situation, I would hope that everybody would be well aware of the rural fire fees, this time.”

According the Daily Times, “Homeowners can purchase a $110 subscription annually to cover structure fires, car fires or other emergency situations firefighters would normally respond to throughout the year. For non-subscribers, the fire department charges $2,200 for the first two hours firefighters are on scene and $1,100 for each additional hour.”

Fire Protection District Board of Commissioners revisited the subscriber versus nonsubscriber situation last year, but the board decided to keep the policy the same as they have had for several years.

Blount County Fire Chief Doug McClanahan says they have a subscription service, but this situation would never happen. “The department’s first priority is saving lives and property, whether a resident is a subscriber or not. The difference is that a subscriber, in the event of a fire, would be saving thousands of dollars,” he said.

“Having subscribers is a good thing, but to punish people to the point that you don’t do anything for them is wrong,” McClanahan added. “As a firefighter you’re bound to say ‘I’m going to help people.’ If someone says you can’t do that, I don’t believe I could work for someone like that the community looks to us to help them and all of a sudden we’re not helping them?”

Read the story here.

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