Thursday Marks The 5-Year Anniversary Of The Fire That Destroyed Big Tex (Video)

DALLAS, TX — Five years have passed since the news broke of a fire that destroyed an icon of the State Fair of Texas, Big Tex. Big Tex arrived at the Texas Fair Grounds in 1952. Before landing at the Fair Grounds Big Tex wore a Santa Clause outfit stood in Kerens, Texas, and was used to lure in Christmas shoppers, according to The State Fair of Texas' website. Fair officials purchased the statue for $750 and had it relocated to Dallas.

Big Tex stood in the fairgrounds for 60 years without incident until an electrical short caused the fire that started the internationally-trending #BigTexOnFire hashtag. Firefighters were unable to save Tex, and he was lost to the blaze. Fair officials resolved to recreate Big Tex, and the new, 55-feet tall Tex was debuted at the 2013 State Fair.

Big Tex wears only name-brand shirts that are hand-crafted at the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing plant in Fort Worth. He wears size 434 x 240 jeans made from Dickies denim, and his boots are size 96 replicas of real Lucchese boots. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Dallas Patch, or click here to find your local Texas Patch. Also, if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch the Big Tex fire:

Image via Youtube