SOUTH FULTON, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee woman says she doesn't blame the firefighters who watched while her house burned to the ground after her family failed to pay a $75 annual protection fee.
Paulette Cranic said Wednesday the firefighters who came to the scene were just following orders. Cranic said her family had paid the fee in the past but simply forgot it recently.
She's thankful no one was hurt in the fire last week that destroyed their doublewide trailer in rural northwest Tennessee.
Firefighters did not try to save the burning structure because Cranic's fee wasn't paid. Firefighters went to the scene to keep flames from spreading to nearby property whose owners had paid the fee.
Cranic and her husband are now living in their camper and a 21-year-old grandson who lived with them is living with his mother.
