Firefighters Let Man's Home Burn Over Unpaid $75 Fee

As his Tennessee home burned to the ground last week, Gene Cranick didn't have to watch the tragedy unfold alone: He was flanked by his local firefighters. The firefighters initially refused to come to the scene as the fire raged—because Cranick had failed to pay a $75 annual service fee. As the fire, which began in some barrels, inched toward his home, Cranick claims he offered to pay them any amount to extinguish the blaze, to no avail. Hours later, his home, three dogs, and a cat were gone.

"They coulda been saved if they put water on it. But they didn't do it," Cranick told MSNBC. The Huffington Post notes that the firefighters didn't rest on their laurels the entire time—they eventually showed up ... to save the field of a neighbor who had paid the fee.
(More firefighters stories.)