FireI have been very excited about FiOS for a while now. In fact, if I do move, I hope to get FiOS in the new house.

The question is, am I that excited about getting FiOS that that I am willing to sacrifice my house being set on fire by a Verizon FiOS tech?

NetworkWorld reports on a story:

A small electrical fire at a Pine Grove Street home Wednesday, August 8, - accidentally caused by a Verizon employee - forced the Fire Department to shut down power to several nearby homes.

Verizon denied this:

I'm in the press office for Verizon. Unfortunately, this story differs quite a bit from the version of the Verizon staffers on the scene. Here it is: One of our new techs was installing a triple play at a Needham home (they're selling like hotcakes, btw). When drilling a hole for the Optical Network Terminal, he accidentally hit an electrical wire, knocking out power to the house. Our bad, but no smoke, and no fire. Out of an overabundance of caution (always a good thing)the local fire department was called. The FD cut a hole in side of house where the drilling took place to expose the area and check for a fire. There was none. An electrician and power utility restored power shortly thereafter. And, the same tech came back and finished the install. Verizon is paying for any repairs to the house. We are calling the local paper to give them the string of events. BTW, nice of you to point readers to the EE Times article about Verizon Business' Disaster Recovery mobile unit, which is pressed into action after regionwide natural disasters, not accidental, individual instances such as this.

Anyway, still funny.