On Sept. 29, Gene Granick and his family watched as their home outside South Fulton, Tenn., burned to the ground. Cranick’s grandson had set a trash fire behind the house and then taken a shower. The family called 911 but were told that because they were not on the city’s list to receive fire services, firefighters would not respond.
 House burns to ground, South Fulton, Tenn |
The South Fulton Fire Department did respond shortly thereafter, though, as the blaze threatened the property of a neighbor. The firefighters on the scene literally watched the Cranick home, with the family’s pets and precious items still inside, burn to the ground while they stood nearby, equipment ready and already in use.
The reason? An unpaid $75 annual service fee.
Even after the neighbor pleaded with the firefighters to put out the Cranicks’ fire, offering to pay any sum, the offer was refused. Jeff Vowell, South Fulton’s city manager, later said, “We have to follow the rules and the ordinances set forth to us, and that’s exactly what we do.”
Fees like the one in question are somewhat common in rural areas, where limitations of population and budget mean counties often contract with the nearest jurisdiction, like a city or town, to provide services. Direct fees are used as they are less cumbersome than tax-and-pay arrangements. The law behind the contract between South Fulton and Obion County is around 20 years old. Cranick asserted that he paid in previous years, only to accidentally let it slip this time.
But in most cases, emergency services are still provided if fees are unpaid; recipients are billed after the fact. The sum is greater, but at least the home has been spared.
Such was not the case for the Cranick family and the firefighters of South Fulton. A service fee was unpaid, so the home was left to burn. The firefighters can rightfully be blamed for not acting out of simple human decency, but that the situation itself even existed is where blame most rightly lies.
In the capitalist United States, money is the ultimate determinant of all things. Without it, nobody can eat, drink clean water or have a home in which to live. If there is need for medical attention, a person must pay for professional work and supplies. And if a house catches on fire and legal arrangements provide no tax-based provision of services, the fire company must be paid to put it out.
A century ago, privately owned fire companies often let entire neighborhoods burn if they were not first paid, and squabbles between companies at the scene often led to the same result. Untold numbers of people died cruel deaths because they could not pay for the profits of the company owners.
That fire companies are now usually part of local governments was a tremendous gain for poor and working people—but capitalism puts incredible pressure even on these public companies that are paid from the public coffers to provide a public service. Fire stations around the country are facing the same budget cutbacks as schools and public hospitals. Some volunteer companies outside cities have been forced to close due to lack of funds for equipment.
The Cranick home didn’t just burn because of a lack of money or an unpaid fee, though. There is no doubt that if the situation had been the same for the mayor, a bank or other corporate building, the firefighters would not have hesitated a moment before protecting the building. Capitalist society is run—on the basis of private profit—in the interests of a minority class: the ruling capitalist class. Cranick and his family are of no consequence to this group, being from the working class, and as such lost their home because of a minor fee.
It does not have to be that way. No person’s home should burn to the ground because of an unpaid annual fee as the resources and personnel available sit by. Socialism, which is premised on universally meeting people’s needs, guarantees that public services, along with food, housing, health care and employment, are rights. There is no need for anyone to pay for services because, simply by working and contributing to society, the people have already paid for them.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation is fighting for just such a society. As we struggle, we recognize the need for immediate relief as well. Cranick and his family deserve not only a formal apology from the local government and firefighters but a new home built on their property as well.
