If you are unfamiliar with Texas Aggie lore, then you may not know
that every year before the Texas A&M - U. Texas game, the students of
Texas A&M cut, erect, and ignite an enormous bonfire as a symbol of
something or other. Every one gets very excited and very drunk and
yells alot -- which is why a friend and I decided that a mini-bonfire
would make a great centerpiece for one of our parties.
The actual bonfire measures 55 feet tall at the top of the center
pole and is crowned with an orange and white out house labeled "T. U.
Frat House." Our replica was to measure just over three feet at the
center. Thus we had a method of scaling linear measures right down
to the miniature orange W.C.
Miniaturization of the bonfire was rather straight forward in all areas but one...
In order to insure a good burn, the real bonfire is soaked with 10,000 lbs. of jet fuel prior to ignition. We were faced with a dilemma when trying to scale this down to terms involving gas siphoned from my boat. It is here that, in our zeal to throw a memorable party, we may have over-estimated.
We doused 'Bonfire 5.18 (= 95x3/55)' in two gallons of boat gas
and ignited it via a small trench with a propane blow torch. The results
were spectacular...
Though the flames leapt over 9 feet in the air and scorched our
neighbors' second-story balcony a little, no one was injured and the
conflagration calmed down obediently. No one got hurt, the police
never showed up, and within a half an hour we were ready to roast
marshmallows.