It's become an annual winter tale: A young boy gets his tongue stuck to a metal pole, perhaps as the result of a dare.
This year, the scene straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story" unfolded Tuesday morning in Boise with a boy of about 10. Boise firefighters used a glass of warm water to free the unidentified boy from the metal fence pole.
Fire Capt. Bill Tinsley says the boy's tongue was bleeding a little, but he was OK and allowed to continue walking to school. Firefighters estimate the boy was 10 years old.
Rescue workers responded after a woman driving by saw the boy and called 911.
Last year, the unlucky boy was a 10-year-old from Hammond, Ind., especially apt, since the 1983 movie is set in a fictional city based on Hammond.
Apparently, experimenting with frozen flag poles isn't that unusual, especially this time of year.
A similar drama unfolded in Spokane, Wa., on Monday when a 13-year-old girl stuck her tongue on a flag pole outside a school. The temperature was a frigid 10 degrees and a friend called 911 when the discomfort became too much.
Firefighters poured water on the pole to help remove the tongue.