DALLAS — Watch the WFAA+ streaming app at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a full replay of our Oct. 19, 2012 coverage of the Big Tex fire
Ten years ago Wednesday, Big Tex burned.
And there was no saving him.
A reported electrical fire sent the State Fair of Texas icon up in flames, nearly incinerating him into a heap of ashes.
Only a fried skeleton of the famed cowboy and his waving hands were left in the end.
And if you don't think Big Tex means a lot to some people, just go back and look at our coverage (above) from the day it happened.
The scene at the fair was akin to a funeral.
WFAA's David Schechter, reporting from the fairgrounds, described fairgoers "gravitating" toward what was left of Big Tex, taking photographs and video "almost in a sense of loss and mourning, strange as it may seem."
"It's become quite a spectacle, and, really, for Texas, a bit of a national tragedy if you can call it that," Schechter reported.
Later that day, WFAA reporter Rebecca Lopez caught up with more mourners, who brought flowers and wreaths reading "RIP, Big Tex."
"We just thought it was out of respect," said one fairgoer who brought flowers.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings was on hand, too.
"It's an important symbol of Dallas, so there's a lot of people that are emotional about it," he said.
In the end, they covered Big Tex with a large brown tarp, detached his giant hands and hauled him away. He returned brand-new in 2013, "like any tall, proud Texan would do," the State Fair website proclaims.
State Fair officials ultimately pointed to an electrical mishap that caused Big Tex's demise.
WFAA's Lopez, as she always does, was quick with the scoop: "Big Tex most likely died of natural causes," she tweeted, citing Dallas police sources.
"Mechanical problem," her tweet said, "not a homicide."
Whatever the cause, it happened fast: Witnesses reported seeing smoke coming from around Big Tex's neck. And then he was up in flames.
"He went up so quick," one fair worker said, "we barely got time to take a picture."
One fairgoer thought the smoke might have been coming from the popular Fletcher's Corny Dog stand.
But no, it was Tex.
And on that day, there was no saving him.
