[In Obion County, Tennessee], Gene Cranick’s home caught on fire. As the Cranicks fled their home, their neighbors alerted the county’s firefighters, who soon arrived at the scene. Yet when the firefighters arrived, they refused to put out the fire, saying that the family failed to pay the annual subscription fee to the fire department. Because the county’s fire services for rural residences is based on household subscription fees, the firefighters, fully equipped to help the Cranicks, stood by and watched as the home burned to the ground:

Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won’t respond, then watches it burn. That’s exactly what happened to a local family tonight. A local neighborhood is furious after firefighters watched as an Obion County, Tennessee, home burned to the ground.

The homeowner, Gene Cranick, said he offered to pay whatever it would take for firefighters to put out the flames, but was told it was too late. They wouldn’t do anything to stop his house from burning. Each year, Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton. But the Cranicks did not pay. The mayor said if homeowners don’t pay, they’re out of luck. […]

We asked the mayor of South Fulton if the chief could have made an exception. “Anybody that’s not in the city of South Fulton, it’s a service we offer, either they accept it or they don’t,” Mayor David Crocker said.

The fire reportedly continued for hours “because garden hoses just wouldn’t put it out. It wasn’t until that fire spread to a neighbor’s property, that anyone would respond” — only because the neighbor had paid the fee.

A local newspaper further pressed Mayor Crocker about the city’s policy, which has been in place since 1990. Crocker, a Republican who was elected in 2008 and serves with a county commission where every seat is also filled by a Republican, likened the policy to buying auto insurance. [mjh: Except that the police don’t let you die trapped in your car because you don’t have auto insurance – yet.] The paper said he told them that, after all, “if an auto owner allowed their vehicle insurance to lapse, they would not expect an insurance company to pay for an unprotected vehicle after it was wrecked.”

Ironically, in the county commission’s latest report on its fire services, which outlines which parts of the municipal area will receive fire services only through subscriptions, the commissioners and fire service officials brag that the county is “very progressive.” [mjh: Double-plus good newspeak!]

Think Progress » Tennessee County’s Subscription-Based Firefighters Watch As Family Home Burns Down

!status updates

mjh played volleyball in a light rain Sunday afternoon – 3 against 3 for 4 games. Rain kept the mosquitoes away. Saw another dozen or more turkey vultures heading south to Mexico for the winter.

Sun 10/03/10 mjh

mjh

QOTD, The Atheist's Pulpit

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less."

Sun 10/03/10 mjh

From Alice in Wonderland. Was Lewis Carroll mocking that view?

mjh’s blog — Do children understand irony? Does Science Daily?

It took me a long time to realize that I use the word irony differently from anyone I’ve ever discussed the term with. Most people speak of irony as intentional – “I was being ironic” – which is impossible for me. I prefer to call “intentional irony” sarcasm, as in “I’m sure you agree this is interesting …” Then there is real irony, which cannot ever be intentional, as I use irony. [read more]

As an update to that earlier blog post: I followed an exchange in which a writer made a categorical statement without any clear tone. A respondent explained the fallacy of the original statement. The original writer dismissed the correction with “I was being sarcastic.” Later, someone wrote: “Best use of sarcasm ever!! (see it is funny because you were actually being facetious).”

“Best use of sarcasm,” which may be hyperbole, is not quite as good as “I never tire of your sarcasm.” (Kitty on That 70’s Show.) I was moved by the need to correct sarcasm to facetiousness.

Words mean more than any one person can fully comprehend. Language is inherently inaccurate, no matter how precisely we use it. Not that you understand what I mean, which is neither arrogance nor an insult to you, simply an acknowledgement of language’s weakness. Sadly, we blame each other for misunderstandings when it is language that is to blame. (Or our mutual and equal failure to grasp that.)

photos, Picasa