Obion County, Don't Stand By And Watch Homes Burn Down
When South Fulton, Tenn. firefighters arrived at Vicky Bell's burning home, she expected them to try to save some of her remaining possessions. But instead, the firefighters stood by and watched her home burn to the ground-because she had not paid a $75 fee.
Because Vicky and her husband live outside the city limits of South Fulton, they must pay for the same protections that residents receive for free. Forcing firefighters to respond and then allowing them to do nothing is no way to use taxpayer money. Plus, this is the second time that South Fulton has let a home burn down in the last year.
Fire protection is exactly what our taxes should fund. Tell Obion County Mayor Benny McGuire that if he's entrusting the lives of his residents to South Fulton firefighters, he'd better make sure they have the funding to do their jobs. Don't let this atrocity happen again.
Your decision to entrust the residents of your county to the funding capabilities of South Fulton's firefighters is clearly a faulty one. Two homes in the last year have burned to the ground while firefighters stood by and did nothing.
I understand that funding and resources for civil services may be limited. But county residents pay taxes to ensure that they can trust firefighters, police officers, and the like to protect them. Expecting them to pay an additional fee is both illogical and immoral.
I am writing to urge you to change the structure of fire protection in Obion County to ensure that what happened to Vicky Bell and Gene Cranick never happens again.
