Confusing headline

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 16 May 2009 20:05 GMT

We are quite used to confusing or ambiguous headlines, but I had to read
the article to find out what this one meant:

Fleet lost in fire college blaze

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8053733.stm

A fleet of 11 fire engines worth £1.3m and belonging to the national
Fire Service College in Gloucestershire has been destroyed in a
blaze.

The engines, costing £116,000 each, were stored in a workshop at the
college in Moreton-in-Marsh, along with diesel and hydraulic oil.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service sent 58 firefighters to the
fire. Crews from two other counties assisted.

Oops! How embarrassing. No doubt the jokes will continue for years.

....
The Fire Service College has been in the market town for 38 years.
It provides specialist courses for emergency workers from the UK and
overseas and can accommodate 600 students on the site.

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Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 16 May 2009 20:17 GMT

>We are quite used to confusing or ambiguous headlines, but I had to read
>the article to find out what this one meant:
>
> Fleet lost in fire college blaze
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8053733.stm

I'm delighted to see that the National Fire Service College offers
consultancy services "in the fields of fire safety, fire prevention and
fire risk management".
http://www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk/businessandcommerce/consultancy

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Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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Raymond O'Hara - 16 May 2009 22:20 GMT

> We are quite used to confusing or ambiguous headlines, but I had to read
> the article to find out what this one meant:
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Oops! How embarrassing. No doubt the jokes will continue for years.

Ineed!.

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tinwhistler - 16 May 2009 22:23 GMT

On May 16, 2:20 pm, "Raymond O'Hara" <raymond-oh...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> > We are quite used to confusing or ambiguous headlines, but I had to read
> > the article to find out what this one meant:
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Ineed!.

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Amethyst Deceiver - 18 May 2009 13:01 GMT

During the last firefighters' strike in the UK, we drove past a fire
station where a number of uniformed firefighters were surrounding a
blazing brazier, several of the group stamping out some escaped flames.
Which made us laugh.

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Linz
Wet Yorks via Cambridge, York, London and Watford
My accent may vary

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

Confusing headline