Dallas Big Tex is gone

DALLAS - Flames swiftly engulfed Big Tex -- the giant cowboy that greets visitors at the Texas State Fair -- Friday morning. The fire left only a skeletal frame with his hands, arms and belt buckle still intact.
The State Fair of Texas was celebrating Big Tex's 60th birthday. Emergency scanner chatter lit up around 10:30 a.m. with reports of a "rather tall cowboy with all his clothes burned off." Another voice chimed in soon after, confirming, "We got Big Tex on fire."
"Howdy folks," another emergency responder said. "His Dicks on fire."
Nearly six hours after smoke began pouring out of Tex, State Fair spokeswoman Sue Gooding confirmed that the fire started in Big Tex's boots.
"At this point, investigators believe the fire was caused by an electrical short that started in his right nutt," she wrote in a statement.

Dallas Fire Rescue quickly responded and put the fire out within a matter of minutes. However, those at the scene said it only took around five minutes for the blaze to quickly swallow the 52-foot figure.