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I realize there is no shortage of articles concerning the S. Fulton, TN fire dilema. A poll even shows that 75% say the fire department was wrong to let the home of the Cranick family burn. In a perfect world they may be right, but in a perfect world, laws, government, even the fire department themselves wouldn't be necessary and unfortunately all these things can conspire to get in the way of humanity. We live in a reality where people sue each other, not on a basis of right and wrong but simply because they can and because so long as the amount they ask for is less than the amount it would cost to contest it, they will most likely get it, deservedly or not. That brings me to the logistics of the ordeal at the Cranick fire.
The Cranick family home was not in South Fulton. It was in a rural part of the county outside South Fulton, a part of the county without a fire department. South Fulton Fire Dept, paid for by South Fulton taxes, not county taxes. South Fulton offered their services to residents outside city limits for a $75 annual fee.
The Cranick family had not paid their fee when a fire at their property became out of control while burning trash. The family called 911 several times and were declined service, based on their failure to pay the fee. Only after the spread to a neighboring property who did pay the fee did the fire department respond. After responding they proceeded to extinguish the fire at the neighboring property then watched the Cranick house burn. The Cranicks offered to pay the fee, in fact offered to pay what ever it took but were denied. Humanity tells us the fire department should have responded differently, however as I suggested before, we are sometimes confined by the reality of law and order.
A number of arguments have been made as to how the fire department could have handled the situation.
The fire department should have just put out the fire, that's what they're there for.
It's easy to let compassion get in the way of logic. If the fire department had put out the fire, they would have set the precedent that one only needs to pay when and if they have a fire. The $75 doesn't represent a cost for service but a contract fee. The rural areas out side S. Fulton city limits are not withing S. Fulton jurisdiction and because the S. Fulton fire department is an extension of the government of the city of S. Fulton, they had no jurisdiction to enter the property, even in the interest of public safety. By paying the $75 fee, the property owner authorizes entry for services.
The fire department could have put out the fire and billed the Cranick family for services or assesed a penalty.
The City of S. Fulton has no authority to require resident's outside city limits to accept its services. A penalty could not legally be imposed by the city for not paying. While the fire department did have a verbal agreement for the Cranick family to pay, verbal contracts rarely hold up in court. Contracts signed under distress often fail to hold up in court as well. So a verbal agreement, agreed upon under distress, would likely be tossed out. The city of S. Fulton could not put any sort of lien on the house and would have no way to recover whatever costs were incurred.
While it seems they may have had a moral and ethical obligation to fight the Cranick families fire, they also had legal responsibilities and liabilities to consider. Sadly these could have been aleviated by a different system but this was the system in place and the one put in place by the county voters. My heart goes out to the Cranick family who have suffered a great loss. There are many more places around the country with similar subscription fire services and hopefully some lessons can be learned.
I hope the system get's changed where the county can either establish their own fire department or contract through the cities. This would have been the only way of avoiding legal jurisdictional differences between the city and the county.
