I agree with you. Editing a direct quote should be a last resort, with a light touch, and only to provide clarity. Editing quotes for grammatical correctness is

I agree with you. Editing a direct quote should be a last resort, with a light touch, and only to provide clarity. Editing quotes for grammatical correctness is going too far, especially if the meaning is self evident to most readers. For the given example, it probably doesn't require editing. If rather Billy-Jo Bob was shouting to his neighbor Joanne about her house being on fire, then yes, adding that context is helpful, and wouldn't be apparent from the quote itself.