COLUMBIANA CORNER It's a dilemma for firefighters: smoke and fire -- or mosquitoes

After spending the night with about 50 other firefighters battling an early-morning structure fire, Damascus Fire Chief John Bricker stood along the side of the road, swatting mosquitoes from his bare arms. It was a warm and muggy morning, and the mosquitoes were on the hunt in earnest.
"That's one thing about summer fires," he said. "The smoke keeps the mosquitoes away, so we joke about whether we really want to put out the fire. We know as soon as the smoke clears, the mosquitoes are going to start chewing on us. It's miserable."
Apparently eating smoke does have its advantages.
Preventing a prank
The prank of draping someone's home and trees with countless ribbons of toilet paper has become so popular that at least one wary manager of a Salem variety store recently attempted to prevent a possible instance of it.
The manager called police to advise them that several people had just entered the business -- at about 1 a.m. -- and purchased a large amount of toilet paper.
No word on whether an act of vandalism was prevented or if some folks just like to ensure they have a good stock of the bathroom necessity on hand.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Nancy Tullis and Norman Leigh, Vindicator Salem Bureau.