Woman calls fire dept. for burning log tape on TV

CNN ^ | 10/02/03

[milemark]

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- A German TV network's regular early morning film of a burning log is playing havoc with night owls and even tricked a woman into calling out the fire brigade.

A spokesman for police in the northern town of Luebeck said Thursday that the woman woke up thinking her television was on fire, called emergency services and alerted her neighbors.

[milemark]

This reminds me of that Orkin commercial that showed an insect scurrying across the screen, prompting several viewers to bash their TVs. People can be so hillarious.

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[fnord]

My cats went absolutely berserk at that Orkin commercial. On the widescreen it looked like a 6" bug had gotten behind the screen.

[bluesagewoman]

My cats went nuts too! One of my cats plays with the cursor on the computer and watches the Animal Planet channel.

[DainBramage]

She probably had to call information to get the number for 911.

[tdadams]

I'll have to remember this story the next time I hear some German criticizing Bush as being dumb.

[rickmichaels]

...but is distinguishable from a real fire.

CNN reveals its journalistic standards yet again.

[tbpiper]

I'll have to remember this story the next time I hear some German criticizing Bush as being dumb.

Kind of a socialist mindset, i.e., don't put the fire out yourself, call the government. Waking up suddenly, you will tend to act instinctily to a perceived emergengy, she has been trained to go to the 'authorities' first.

[slimer]

"Once I heard an old lady poured water on her TV," she said. "But most people should really be able to tell the difference."

Now they are trying to strip us of our Constitutionally protected delusions. What will be next?

[Vaduz]

She must be one of the scaggs that got groped.

[csvset]

Must be that high definition television I've heard so much about.

[AAABEST]

I knew some d00d back when I was in High School that was on drugs and came home and thought his basement was on fire.

He found out is wasn't, but only after waking up his entire family and calling the fire department.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Several years ago, my parents had one of those horrible ceramic log natural gas fake fires installed in their fireplace. To me, nothing comes close to a real hardwood fire, but the "real thing" is more trouble, granted. After seeing their new setup, I suggested that they might want to take the next logical step, and just pop a video tape of a fire into the VCR, and crank the thermostat up to 80º. Mom, as always failing to recognize sarcasm, thought that sounded like a pretty good idea.

[Not gonna take it anymore]

I hate that bug commercial.

[coloradan]

Sometimes fish get trapped in my computer. I need fish food now or they are going to die!

[lelio]

Mom, as always failing to recognize sarcasm, thought that sounded like a pretty good idea.

You laugh, but if she went on with it she could be the head of TV programming in Germany right now.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Irony alert! As Dave Barry would say, "I am not making this up."

Just after I made my last post (on the subject of fire) at 9:42 EDT, my dog's blanket burst into flame. He wasn't on it at the time, fortunately. He had wadded the blanket up into the corner of the den where it was covering an electrical outlet into which I had plugged a strip heater which is under my desk (I haven't yet fired up my central heat this season; guess I will now!). The outlet overheated; maybe the 1500-watt heater was too much for the outlet, or maybe it's just that the fact it was covered with the blanket caused a heat buildup. In any event, WHOOOOM! -- there was a 3-foot-tall open flame in the corner of the den.

The outlet itself had caught fire, and the circuit controlling all outlets in the den tripped, knocking me off line (even though the puter was plugged to an outlet 10 feet away). No permanent damage other than a burned-out outlet, a melted extension cord, a scorched wall, and a crispy dog blanket. That'll wake you up faster than Starbuck's Dark Roast.

Glad to still be here!

[sweetliberty]

"Mom, as always failing to recognize sarcasm, thought that sounded like a pretty good idea."

ROTFL! Good story.

[sweetliberty]

"Sometimes fish get trapped in my computer"

Yours too, huh?

[RichInOC]

"All right, Oma, that does it. No more schnapps before bedtime for you."