Well, one certainly hates to fan the flames of Paul McNamara’s efforts. to take down Verizon.  So let me repeat that we regret that there was any problem at a home in Needham, MA, during recent work there by a Verizon technician.  We worked cooperatively with officials at the scene to restore electrical service. The next day the customer allowed us to finish the installation of her new FiOS TV, Internet, and phone service.  We have apologized to the customer and taken financial responsibility for repairs.  When accidents such as this do happen we step up and do the right thing and we did in this case. 

But let’s keep this in perspective.  FiOS is a hot product, but not that hot.  No house was “set ablaze” as McNamara wrote in his post on this incident.  We won’t parse words with the fire chief, but if there was either smoke or fire, it did not cause extensive damage.  Want to see?   The fire department opened the wall to be sure nothing was burning inside a crawl space.  Here are two six (new photos added 8/16) photos of the area where, as we have said, our technician’s drill hit an electric wire.  There is far more damage from opening the wall than from any smoke or flames.

Importantly, the incident has little to do with the Verizon’s fiber or FiOS technology.  This was the sort of accident that could happen during a lot of household projects like building a deck or installing a dryer vent hose. 

McNamara seems to believe the old adage “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”  We didn’t think there was either smoke or fire, but, if there was, the damage was minimal and we’re taking care of repairs.   The most smoke here comes from Paul McNamara’s efforts to turn this ember of a story into a forest fire.

AUG. 16 UPDATE: In response to many commenters here, we've attached some photos taken yesterday at the customer's home that show the Optical Network Terminal outside the house and associated wiring in the basement.