being from TN i was sad to see this bad press about my old state, but as sad as it is i think the fire chief did as he should, one of the things nice about TN is the low taxes, they have 9% sales tax, no income tax, $28 for your car (the roads are way better too). So if the guy knowing that he could pay a $75 dollar tax decided on his own will that he would NOT pay tax for fire protection then it was his own dumb ass fault that his house burned down. They announce it for months that your payment is due, and apparently take late checks. Im sure if there was a life at risk or something like that they would have been saved but I dont believe they should risk anything for a guy that is unwilling to help himself. From what i read they didnt even roll the trucks out until the neighbors called so their house wouldnt burn, so more than likely by the time they got there they couldnt do much for his house. Is the system the best, no, but he was willing to save 6 dollars a month (two trips to starbucks, one trip to out to eat) on fireprotection then he got what he paid for. He didnt want a general tax for the protection, he didnt want to pay the 75 bucks, he didnt really want his house i guess.