This Is News?

You have to hand it to the lefties to overinflate the news.
From Berkley Side.com:
Authorities closed Allston Way in downtown Berkeley on Monday night for about 45 minutes after a report of a fire in a five-story building across from the popular Cancun Taqueria restaurant.
Berkeley Fire Department Battalion Chief Bill Kehoe said the call about the fire, in a second-floor unit at 2161 Allston, came in at about 5:40 p.m. Kehoe, a ladder truck, four engines and a paramedic unit were dispatched to investigate.
Firefighters found the fire in a pot of oil on the stove — with flames rising 10-12 inches above the rim — in the second-floor unit.
“They extinguished it by placing the lid on it,” Kehoe said Monday evening, outside 2161 Allston. The fire caused damage to a nearby microwave, causing it to melt partially.
There was also some smoke damage inside the unit, and minor damage to a door in another unit in the apartment building where fire crews initially had been told the fire was located.  http://www.berkeleyside.com/2013/06/24/firefighters-use-lid-to-put-out-kitchen-pot-fire-in-berkeley/
Did anyone think of turning off the gas or electric to the stove?
Why didn't the idiot in the apartment put the lid on themselves?
Why is this even a story on Berkley?  Damage: about $10.
As Ann Althouse says: Of all the headlines I have ever read, that one most exemplifies the loss of individual know-how and the instinct for self-defense in the face of dependence on government.
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/06/firefighters-use-lid-to-put-out-kitchen.html