October 19, 2012

"Stanley Hill, who supervises a food stand that has been located near the structure for 18 years, said he noticed smoke coming from Big Tex's neck area..."

"... and then watched for about 15 minutes as the giant cowboy burned."



More images of the fire: #RIPbigtex.

38 comments:

edutcher said...

Usually when a guy has a fire in him, it's a bit lower down.

Ron said...

Al Qaeda's retribution for Ross Perot endorsing Romney.

X said...

Howdy folks, and welcome to the State Fair of Texas.

Carol said...

hell I forgot it was Fair Month.

SteveR said...

It will be back bigger and better next year. To be honest it always seemed kinda cheesy.

madAsHell said...

"Meet me by Big Tex!!"

"If you get lost, just go stand by Big Tex!"

How disappointing! Although, he was showin' his age.

Penny said...

This is what can happen when a BIG Texan gets "hot" under the collar.

Chip Ahoy said...

Oh noes, this Big Tex?

cold pizza said...

Their own version of burning man. -CP

Chip Ahoy said...

Awesome, Wickerman! It's like Druids all over the place.

Penny said...

Anger management counselors flock to the scene!

cold pizza said...

Tex wrecks! Not optimal. -CP

Wince said...

That girl in the red tank top would cause me to spontaneously combust in my Dickies, too.

X said...

here's the local media coverage:

http://www.theunticket.com/eulogy-for-big-tex-burning-by-badd-radio/

Penny said...

"Oh noes, this Big Tex?"

Yup, the old guy with the big noes and big years.

Cripes, no wonder ...

He was a 49'er.

Penny said...

"Their own version of burning man. -CP"

That came to my mind too, CP.

Just hope none of the attendees of Burning Man was nicknamed "Dallas Sparky".

Balfegor said...

This is what it makes me think of.

cold pizza said...

Sorry, Big Tex, but you're FIRED! -CP

mesquito said...

"He's like the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty rolled into one."

-Hank Hill

Dr Weevil said...

Hmmm. Is the Stanley Hill quoted in the story any relation to Hank Hill?

Penny said...

Hell, how would EYE know, Dr. Weevil?

Penny said...

Course, if you listen to Titus?

They're shit-ass cousins!

Penny said...

What is it with Titus?

Boy sure does know how to smell "shit" a mile away though.

Paul said...

When was Big Tex built?

I bet he was a fire trap.

Penny said...

Now that I think about it?

Titus smells shit "up close" too!

Penny said...

Son-of-a-gun needs a good sinus infection!

Sydney said...

The metal frame that remains doesn't look too bad. They could keep it there.

Here in Ohio, we keep a mean giant cardinal at our state fair.

Penny said...

"When was Big Tex built?"

You can read up on that.

But far as I can tell, we're gonna give that son-of-a-bitch a thread of his own here at Althouse!

And that's somethin', eh?

_Jim said...


Texas' version of "Burning Man"?

The Big Tex finally smoked out?

"After a long, hot, dry summer, Big Texas finally succumbed to becoming 'kindling' despite a burn-ban imposed by the county and a rush to the scene by DFD (Dallas Fire Dept)"

Smokey Bear says: "Only you can prevent forest fires; Big Tex suffering an overloaded jaw-motor is another thing"

CWJ said...

I blame Bush.

CWJ said...

Correction. I blame burning Bush.

Unknown said...

Very Zozobra-like

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beldar said...

@SteveR: Of course Big Tex was cheesy! He was already cheesy by the first time I saw him in 1962. His purpose was to be transcendently cheesy, a cliche that nevertheless communicates eternal truths of spirit and history, a goofy reassurance that really fresh corndogs with mustard taste good going down but always make you pay. I hope they rebuild him exactly to his pre-fire specifications!

AlanKH said...

It died with an awful sound.

Kirk Parker said...

EDH,

Was there a BigTex somewhere in that picture?

virgil xenophon said...

@Beldar/

In TOTAL agreement with you. (And the first time I saw Tex was almost the same time as you--New Year's Day 1963 when my LSU defeated an undefeated Texas team 13-0 in the Cotton Bowl.)

Dagwood said...

Big Tex still didn't get burned nearly so badly as the Longhorn defense did last Saturday at the State Fair.