Firefighters let home burn to the ground because owner didn’t pay annual $75 fee.

In Obion County, Tennessee, firefighters watched a man’s house burn down because he didn’t pay his $75 yearly fee to the city of South Fulton. Gene Cranick the homeowner, watched his house burn for two hours because small garden hoses just weren’t enough to do the job. This happened last week.

The Cranicks didn’t pay the fee this year so they were simply out of luck. No fire protection. Even the mayor said if homeowners don’t pay, they’re out of luck.

“I thought they’d come out and put it out, even if you hadn’t paid your $75, but I was wrong,” said Gene Cranick.

They called 911 several times, and initially the South Fulton Fire Department would not come.

The Cranicks told 9-1-1 they would pay firefighters, whatever the cost, to stop the fire before it spread to their house.

“When I called I told them that. My grandson had already called there and he thought that when I got here I could get something done, I couldn’t,” Paulette Cranick explained.

It was only when a neighbor’s field caught fire, a neighbor who had paid the county fire service fee, that the department responded. Gene Cranick asked the fire chief to make an exception and save his home, the chief wouldn’t.

The story also aired on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on October 6, 2010.

Wonder what would’ve happened if there were human beings in the house?