Tongue on Frozen Flagpole Claims Another Victim

When my hometown of Vancouver, Washington isn’t landing on Neatorama for its bus-riding goats, it’s usually quiet on the odd news front.  But yesterday, firefighters had to remove a middle schooler’s tongue from a frozen flagpole.

Firefighter Mike Swanson then applied warm water to the boy’s tongue to get it unstuck.  The firefighter crew gave the boy hot chocolate and cookies and he required no further medical attention.  ”This is a first [in] my 18 years with the fire district,” Swanson said.

A news release from the fire department said that even when issued a “triple-dog dare,” they advise people against putting their tongue on a metal pole in the cold.

(Sigh) It’s beginning to look a lot like A Christmas Story.

Link.  Photo: Warner Brothers Pictures.