What is Bonfire going to be like in the future?

Will Student Bonfire make the stack taller or start stacking logs or is the current design permanent?

Does anyone honestly think it will ever go back to campus?

Bonfire will be the same as it always has been: students working hard and building friendships.

I don't think Stack design will change, nor do I think it should. The current design was designed by a P.E. and authorized by the Board. Any changes, other than those made for any future identified safety concerns, would interfere with our efforts to make Bonfire as safe as possible. All things considered, the drive of our ego to make Bonfire increasingly big while disregarding common sense of construction is what led to the '99 collapse.

I hope Bonfire never returns to campus. It would be too cost prohibitive, and even then would have to sacrifice student involvement, the very heart and Spirit of Bonfire.

That said, it would be nice to not have to fight the university and would be even better if maybe they would let their "representatives" come on out.

Obligatory can of worms statement.

I don't see us fighting the University much these days, at least compared to what we used to have to do my fish year. That might be limited to Nerd dorms, though.

Yeah, it'd be nice to have some "representatives" out, but I don't think that's worth what we'd have to sacrifice.


Our only real problems these days are the lack of knowledge about us among current/former students, and the negative biases people form in their minds during their FLO and greek times.
Coming back on campus would help with the former, though we're gaining notoriety back, albeit slowly. As for the negative perception of Bonfire, and more precisely Bonfire participants, the only way we can combat that is by continuing to be the charming, selfless, and respectable citizens the majority of us are. That means actually observing the green light (I'm looking at you, Kreuger).

And Crocker...I mean....

By representatives I meant something along the lines of athletes, yell leaders on their own free time, and faculty/staff that have a desire to come to burn. And oh yah get the freakin Association to quit killing our rep to old Ags.

Incorporating or advertising to other student groups to come out would be a way to grow the base, albeit probably not real effectively given the fact that there have been frats thyme come out and then just can't handle it. To boost attendance at future Burns some thought oughta be given to circulating informational emails around the Aggie network, or inviting media outlets out (though I imagine this has already been talked about), or at very least see if the TexAgs guys would want to come out and do a segment to post in the subscriber section...where all the money is...

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Bonfire will be the same as it always has been: students working hard and building friendships

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This is all that matters to us. The rest will fall into place, eventually, I'd like to think.

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And oh yah get the freakin Association to quit killing our rep to old Ags.

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Oh? What have they said?

To generalize, not much positive. I'll allow for exceptions on a personal basis.

As an outlet that has the level of interaction with former students that they do, I wish there could be more of a positive representation of student bonfire. Is there something that I'm missing?

Well, AFS is a former student organization, and thus includes people who attended A&M in 2000-2002 when there was substantial student opposition to "renegade bonfires".

I think only time can start the healing process. It will probably take many more years for the organization to regain the systematic trust in our safety measures Aggie Bonfire once enjoyed.

While that's probably true, it would be a expedited process if folks came out and saw with their own eyes what's going on rather than the current paradigm of rumor 'informing' the majority.

If it was back on campus we could burn it even if there was a burn ban. After last years delay and this years burn ban....

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If it was back on campus we could burn it even if there was a burn ban.

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YEAH! LETS BURN DOWN HALF THE STATE OF TEXAS! THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!

Brehm, are you aware of the reason we all wore white and wove maroon at the Baylor game? Yeah, it'd be great for us to cause that level of catastrophe again, I'm sure the entire state would just love us for it. Why don't we just cut to the chase and burn down our farmers' crops, while we're at it?

EDIT: I forgot about dumping tons of embers and ash over area business' roofs.

[This message has been edited by HedleyLamar (edited 10/20/2011 2:12p).]

Not to pick nits, but to keep everyone honest...

The veracity of the "dumping tons of embers" angle is left to historical anecdotes. Some people swear it happened all the time, in great quantities, eventually bringing about the Great Chicago Fire. In most cases, those that say it do so either in expressing a distaste for Bonfire (if not a full-on opposition to it), or as Bonfire folks blowing smoke (so to speak) about how big and bad their Bonfire is. Conversely, those who say it didn't dump embers will also say "there's no reason you can't burn now." Point is, with nothing beyond stories to back it up and the fact that these stories have more to do with agenda than actual fact, from my view this angle doesn't work for anyone.

Which brings about the second point. Given the current state of, well, the State, Bonfire would not burn on campus for the exact same reasons it wouldn't burn off IF A BAN IS IN EFFECT. The University and Bonfire share friends and neighbors who are hurting, watching their livelihoods and property disappear. No matter what precautions anyone was to take (the University or Student Bonfire) it comes down to a big GD fire in a drought-crippled state. It presents a face of ignorance of our friends and neighbors. The nation would look on with their soundbites and talking heads and otherwise limited information and say "How damn bad can it be? They just burned a four-story campfire." So there's the problem of extra-local perspective.

This says nothing of local perspectives. No amount of publicity and outreach is going to make everyone in the area aware of safety precautions that have been taken to make the event absolutely safe (extra fire crews, wetting the property, cutting and clearing any trees alive or dead for 1000 yards, etc.). Of the many who are left not aware of these measures that may have been taken, more than a handful will see or hear of a big-ass fire and they will either march down to local government and ask "what the hell made this thing so special" and "don't you know they could burn the state down." Or worse, they march to their shed, get the gas and light up that 15-month-big pile of trash on their drought-land property.

For these reasons, in these times with the area having a larger-than-ever populace and development, there would be no lighting IF THERE IS A STANDING BURN BAN on or off campus.


Bonfire 2011 in Pictures

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I forgot about dumping tons of embers and ash over area business' roofs.

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Alright, not to be the smart ass here, but if you look on the roofs of the buildings near where Bonfire burned on campus, there are actually sprinkler systems set up as a precautionary measure (granted some have been removed).

In the archives I've also come across a door flyer that was posted throughout southgate (when it burned on Duncan at least) that says something to the effect of, "please make sure your roof is free of leaves and it might be a good idea to wet it down with a hose while you're up there, Bonfire is gonna burn on Nov. XX at X:XXpm. Thanks and gig'em."

Which I found humorous at least.

Fitch :: Ran into some of those systems a few years ago during a late-night excursion on top of a few buildings...


Oh, and Brehm, I hope you're not serious. Please for the sake of Pete not be serious. You know better. :P

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For these reasons, in these times with the area having a larger-than-ever populace and development, there would be no lighting IF THERE IS A STANDING BURN BAN on or off campus.

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OCHWFLAKASSOBRTTEFE

[This message has been edited by miss_redass (edited 10/20/2011 4:19p).]

OK yes this drought is pretty bad. When it was on campus they DID burn it when there was a burn ban numerous years. That is why the only years it didn't burn was '63 and '99. They took extra precautions in dry years but because it was on state property they could do what they wanted. IM NOT NECESSARILY SAYING THAT THIS YEAR WOULD BE TIME TO BURN, but we could.

" Brehm, are you aware of the reason we all wore white and wove maroon at the Baylor game? Yeah, it'd be great for us to cause that level of catastrophe again, I'm sure the entire state would just love us for it. Why don't we just cut to the chase and burn down our farmers' crops, while we're at it?

EDIT: I forgot about dumping tons of embers and ash over area business' roofs."

Cause that level of catastrophe again? Do you have any idea how many fires were started from bonfire embers? You sure don't seem to.

Give ya a hint: ZERO

...And we would prefer to keep it that way. Which I believe is what he was getting at...

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Cause that level of catastrophe again? Do you have any idea how many fires were started from bonfire embers? You sure don't seem to.

Give ya a hint: ZERO

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If there were never any fires from Bonfire embers, why would someone think to put sprinklers on a business' roof?


And yes, that is what I was getting at, Fitch.

No need to get into a pissing match here. I think we can all agree that it more than likely wouldn't burn on time, regardless of whether or not it was on campus this year. Embers from Bonfire can travel miles in the air. With the current drought we're in, one of those embers could set off a huge fire by itself.

Not worth the risk.

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Embers from Bonfire can travel miles in the air

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Sigh

Scott Coker '92

Ash can travel miles...

Embers not so much. They run out of fuel and become ash.

Yeah Coker, at first cut I heard you talking about how you were talking to the fire marshal or whatever about these "magical embers" that would fly from here to Austin and burn the entire state to the ground. Got me thinkin.

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If there were never any fires from Bonfire embers, why would someone think to put sprinklers on a business' roof?

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Do you think there were never drought conditions in the past?

And let's see some evidence for these sprinkler systems.

Before my time, but when Bonfire burned on Duncan Field, residents of homes on Jersey (now George Bush) reportedly got up on their roofs with garden hoses.

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Do you think there were never drought conditions in the past?

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I'll just leave this here:

"The 12 months from October 2010 through September 2011 have been the driest for that 12-month period in Texas since 1895, when the state began keeping rainfall records."

http://www.lcra.org/water/drought/index.html

not what I asked. Bonfire burned during other severe droughts

Sure it did, when it was on campus and they could ignore municipal burn bans because they're a state entity. Question remains: was it really a good idea?

Given the distance from stack to any buildings, yes.

Tell home owners with garden hoses that.

Used to live in one of said homes owned by a friend. wasn't concerned in the least because NOTHING EVER HAPPENED

Alright, I'll admit I wasn't actually paying close attention with my last post, so just to make sure I'm on the right page, we're still arguing about whether lighting a massive fire during, literally, the worst drought in over a hundred years is a good idea, right?

Dude you were the one talking about burning down half the state. It burned without igniting a secondary fire EVERY time even in drought conditions BECAUSE IT WAS NOWHERE NEAR ANYTHING.

You weren't in school before 2000 were you?