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Verizon vs. the Needham Fire Department

netbuzz writes "At issue is whether — or not — there was a minor fire in a house on Pine Grove Street in Needham, Mass., caused by a Verizon employee drilling through an electrical main. Everyone agrees that whatever happened — or didn't happen — was indeed the fault of the Verizon employee; it's "fire or no fire" that is at issue. Verizon says no fire, not even smoke. The Needham Fire Department begs to differ. New eye-witness reports are emerging ... and it's not looking good for Verizon."

22 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. News at 11 by xmarkd400x · · Score: 5, Funny

    Verizon burns customer.

  2. On-Site Support by Renaissance+2K · · Score: 5, Funny

    Verizon technical workers are careless and unqualified?

    I'm shocked!

    1. Re:On-Site Support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      So was he.

  3. Re:And things really aren't looking good... by otacon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Interviewer: Sir, what was the reason for leaving your last job?

    Employee: Actually, I started a fire in a customers house and denied it ever happend, even though there were eyewitnesses. Needless to say the incident received national attention and my company spent a lot of money in litigation.

    Interviewer: We'll let you know.

    --
    In a world of acronyms, the words are the real victims.
  4. Re:Headline? by MichaelSmith · · Score: 5, Funny

    who "forgot" to get a map of buried cables before digging.

    In my experience the easiest way to find the owner of a cable is to break it and wait for the complaints.

  5. yes, well.....because um... by mixnblend · · Score: 3, Funny

    Verizon says no fire, not even smoke.. I'm sure that whenever theres a fire Verizon are first on the scene, their trusty technicians battling the burning blazes and rescuing babies from the 4th floor. Now if only those pesky firefighters who are totally unqualified to determine what is and what isn't a fire would'nt go sticking their noses in where they're not wanted...
  6. Had to say it by outriding9800 · · Score: 4, Funny

    /Verizon waves hand This is the not the fire you are looking for...

  7. Re:And things really aren't looking good... by skoaldipper · · Score: 3, Funny

    Employee: Sounds great. I look forward to working with you Captain Hazelwood.

    --
    I hope, when they die, cartoon characters have to answer for their sins.
  8. Re:I love this quote from Verizon PR... by Billosaur · · Score: 3, Funny

    Other rejected phrases:

    • Triple Play sales are on fire!
    • Triple Play sales are smokin'!!
    • Triple Play is da' bomb!
    --
    GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
  9. Re:I love this quote from Verizon PR... by Hanners1979 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Our customers are really fired up about Triple Play!

  10. Re:wow by plague3106 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What, companies send their employees home if the building loses power? Hmm..

  11. Re:wow by matt328 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes it does. Awhile back I had cable internet installed at my parent's house. When I asked the tech how he planned on getting the actual cable into the house, he pulled out a drill with an 18 inch long, 7/16" bit, told me to stand back, and just haphazardly poked a hole right through the siding, insulation, drywall, everything.

    I'm sure if the guy would have hit a wire, electrocuted himself and fell off the ladder you would have read about him suing me.

    --
    Check out the cave on the east side of lake Hylia. Strange and wonderful things live in it.
  12. Re:Headline? by andrewbaldwin · · Score: 5, Funny

    This sounds like a joke but I assure you it is true....

    Some years ago the water/sewage pipes were being repaired just outside the office where I worked. The trench was gradually making its progress up the road, across the pavement [sidewalk] and was closing in on the visitors' car park in front of the building.

    The facilities manager walked out to meet them and spoke to the foreman.

    "Please be careful and watch out when you're digging here, there are some comms cables running across the car park here, they are about 1 metre down"

    "Don't you worry about that sir... we'll be digging much deeper than that" came the reply.

    The really sad part was that he couldn't see why we were laughing.

  13. Re:wow by Spokehedz · · Score: 3, Funny

    A couple years back, during the 4th or 5th time they have repaved/dug up Lee Rd. near my house someone nicked a water-main with the shorewall (the metal things they stick in holes so they don't cave-in on workers) and caused a little bitty leak.

    Turns out there was an 100+ year old pipe under the watermain that nobody had been using or known about. The little water leak washed out the soil under the pipe, and while they were trying to figure out what it was the pipe cracked and someone screamed "GAAAAS!". Not 15 seconds after that, the entire Lee Rd. was lit up with 15' tall flames that I could feel well over 500' away on the corner of my street. Houses and the local video store were completely melted on the sides as well as the walgreens and 7-11.

    So yea. This stuff happens. All the more reason why we should have open and accessible standards and records.

  14. Tim Allen by sjaguar · · Score: 5, Funny
    The first thing I thought of is that drilling through the main would be something Tim Allen would do on "Home Improvement". It reminded me of a quote of his:

    Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded.
    --
    If at first you don't succeed, call it version 1.0.
  15. Re:Is this geek newsworthy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you're going to steal, doing it stationary is a good way to get caught

  16. Re:wow by FuzzyDaddy · · Score: 3, Funny

    We lose power where I work, on occasion. It always astounds me how little I can get done without it. We usually hang around and chat for an hour, then go home - after all, how long can you chat with your coworkers with no coffee?

    --
    It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
  17. Re:wow by biobogonics · · Score: 3, Funny


    Believe it or not, this happens more often than you might think. The only difference is: this one got national attention somehow.


    Maybe if it had happened in Billerica instead of Needham it would have appeared on PBS. "On Tonight's episode of This Old House - what happens when you drill through an electrical main."

  18. Measurement by wizzahd · · Score: 3, Funny

    All of this could have been avoided if he had only drilled .002 meters to the left.

  19. Re:wow by Fred_A · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm sure if the guy would have hit a wire, electrocuted himself and fell off the ladder you would have read about him suing me. Not if you're quick and handy with a shovel he wouldn't (wink wink)

    --

    May contain traces of nut.
    Made from the freshest electrons.
  20. Re:I'm Sorry by Richy_T · · Score: 5, Funny

    #include <stdio.h>

    int main(){
    printf ("%s", "Keep in mind words aren't as precise as we'd like them to be, over the years they take on multiple meanings. Witness the following permutayions on a classic Military phrase, which you think would be very well defined:

    One reason the Armed Services have trouble operating jointly is that they have very different meanings for the same terms.

    The Joint Chiefs once told the Navy to \"secure a building,\" to which they responded by turning off the lights and locking the doors.

    The Joint Chiefs then instructed Army personnel to \"secure the building,\" and they occupied the building so no one could enter.

    Upon receiving the exact same order, the Marines assaulted the building, captured it, and set up defenses with suppressive fire & amphibious assault vehicles, established reconnaissance and communications channels, and prepared for close hand-to-hand combat if the situation arose.

    But the Air Force, on the other hand, acted most swiftly on the command, and took out a three-year lease with an option to buy.

    So its quite possible that both sides are telling the truth, there was no fire & there was a fire. If I asked you if there had ever been a fire in your house, you might truthfully tell me no, even though you had a gas stove, lit matches and candles, and maybe even flambe's some meals. Would that make you a liar?");
    }
  21. Re:I'm Sorry by ultranova · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why on earth this is even a story, I live in smallville midwest and this wouldn't even make it as a paragraph in the Living section. This has the feeling of a 15 year old kid scrambling to find a story for a paper before deadline in an hour. Lot of speculation and lack of actual comments in context. I feel like a piece of my life was just wasted reading the article. Similar to how I made it through Mission to Mars, I kept hoping there would be a point to the movie but alas just a section of my life I will never get back. Kind of like how you feel now for reading my post. Just had to do something to make reading this article worth my time.

    SCANDAL ON SLASHDOT

    An article published on a popular Internet news site Slashdot has been revealed to contain inaccuracies. This shocking revelation, centered around an article concerning a possible attempt at arson committed by Verizon, Inc's employee against the company's customer in Needham, Mass., is only the latest scandal surrounding Slashdot. While the police did not give any details at this time, an attempt to indicate the local fire department of lying is rumored to be at the heart of the matter.

    A Slashdot reader, identifying himself as a veteran of the Mission to Mars, expressed his outrage of the incident, but felt confident that the mental skills honed at that mission would help him cope through these traumatic times.

    "I feel like a piece of my life was just wasted reading the article.", said one reader. Others have engaged in anti-social behavior; one caught in the act said: "Just had to do something to make reading this article worth my time."

    -Ultranova, reporting live from Slashdot.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.