Tennessee Firefighters Stand and Watch While Animals Burn

Chances are, you've seen this story by now. A homeowner in Tennessee stands by helplessly as his house burns to the ground. The local fire department won't help, because the homeowner forgot to pay a yearly fire protection fee.

And there, among the rubble and the charred remnants of a family's life, were the remains of Gene Cranick's pets. His human family made it out safely; his cat and three dogs did not.

The firefighters, by the way, were on the scene and equipped to stop the loss of life. You see, Cranick's neighbor had paid his fire services fee, so the local fire department was on hand to make sure the fire didn't spread. But, according to news reports, not a drop of water was put onto Cranick's home.

Four animals were burned alive. All of the Cranick family's possessions were lost. All over a measly $75 — the cost of this fire protection fee levied on Cranick and his neighbors.

It's not the first time, either. In an interview with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, Cranick said that similar incidents had happened before, including one case where a barn containing live horses was left to burn.

The mayor of South Fulton, TN, whose fire department is at the center of this avoidable tragedy, is less than sympathetic. Mayor David Crocker told the media, "It's a service we offer. Either they accept it or they don't." Cranick tried to accept it. In his multiple 911 calls to save his home and his animals, he offered to pay the fee then and there, more if necessary. He was turned down.

Sure, because Crocker's got a government to run. Who's got time for common decency when you're the mayor of a bustling, powerhouse city like South Fulton? (Population 2,391 and shrinking.)

Giving Crocker the benefit of a doubt, let's presume that South Fulton's fire department has a policy of fighting a fire if human lives are at risk, even if the fee hasn't been paid. Let's assume that Crocker and the other parts of his government that enforce this wrongheaded and misguided policy have at least a shred of common decency. Even then, his actions send an unfortunate and all-too-common message: Animals are property, like your kitchen table, or your tennis racket, or your PlayStation.

The problem is, you probably don't grieve when you lose your PlayStation. You do when you lose a pet, and that's why the county needs to step up and make sure that every life is protected in a fire. There are a lot of ways it can do that.

While providing  a public safety service like fire protection is a costly part of government, it is a part of government's duties. You can't run fire protection on a subscription basis, and South Fulton is hardly the only town in the U.S. that faces the prospect of providing crucial public safety services for its unincorporated neighbors. Other places don't leave innocent lives in the rubble because someone forgot to pay $75.

There's nothing we can do to bring back the Cranick family's pets. They're gone now, and we can only pray that they didn't suffer. We can prevent it from happening again by calling on Obion County to change their policy and keep pets safe as well.

Photo credit:111Emergency