LA Times:
Two scorched arms and a metal frame are all that remains of Big Tex, a 52-foot-tall cowboy statue that welcomed visitors to the State Fair of Texas, after the local icon burned like a towering torch Friday.Here's a fond memory of Big Tex:
Big Tex erupted in flames around 10:15 a.m., officials said. In a video recorded by the Dallas Morning News, fair visitor Lynda Kingsley recalled smoke starting around Big Tex's collar before its whole body was engulfed in flames.
"You just saw the flames pretty much everywhere," Kingsley told the newspaper. "He just went up in a 'poof.'"
In the comments section of this blog, Lattie Harding told us an amazing story. He wrote:
"This is a sad day. I remember back in 1960 I was walking down the fair grounds with my girlfriend when Big Tex hollered out to my girlfriend and said 'Hey pretty girl, are you going to marry that guy?'
"I was shocked because I did not know they had a real cowboy with a microphone talking for Big Tex, sort of interacting with the fair going crowd as they walked by.
"Anyway, she told Big Tex that she always wanted to marry me since she was a little girl. Well, I looked at her and saw a tear in her deep blue eyes and I said, 'What the hell woman, let's do it.'
"She was only 16 and I was 18 and we have been married 52 years since that day in 1960. We have so many grandkids I don't know all their names, but who cares, life has been good to us and every year when we walk by Big Tex, I tell him 'God bless you cowboy and thanks for the wonderful wife.'
"I hope they put him back together, his steel frame is still there, just put on some new fiberglass and he will look as good as new."
Unfortunately, I didn't see any actual fire videos, so it wasn't quite as cool as this:
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