1996 Barn Burner game

[JoeBags7277 759]

I've been perusing around the interwebs tonight, and I've read some insinuation that a pissed coonass set the arena on fire in some sort of drunken rage. While the official story is that someone accidentally left their deep fryer on, if there's any fan base other than the Row Tahd nation capable of such, its that one. Any truth to it?

[Rednilla 5,439]

Drunken rage? I'd say the LSU fans are MORE likely to do something like that than the bammers are...but I have no idea as to the truth of it.

Glad to see you around more now that football season is approaching, btw!

[around4ever 4,139]

A drunk LSU fan??  NO WAY!!!  Never!!   

[mad mike 0]

I was@ that game, on that side of the stadium . That old gyn was where we had played ball many a weekend .

  If I recall, a BBq grill was left there ,hot coals  to close to the building.......was quite a site....old building was gone in short order

[Tractorjockey 0]

I was@ that game, on that side of the stadium . That old gyn was where we had played ball many a weekend .

  If I recall, a BBq grill was left there ,hot coals  to close to the building.......was quite a site....old building was gone in short order

This is how I recall it, no malice just an unfortunate accident.  I was sitting on the opposite end-zone and it looked to me as if the stadium was on fire. You could see the flames reaching far above the top of that end-zone.  Quite a site.

[NWALTIGER 1]

I was sitting in the opposite side upper deck. The flames were going higher than the stadium which made it look like it was on fire. My uncle was with us . He was uptight as he had two kids in the student section. Most surreal scene ever at a ballgame.

[theagent39 0]

I was there and it was one of those nights that nothing seemed to be going right for AU. AU was still in the game until the field house caught on fire and then the wheels came off for AU. The fire was a pure accident from a LSU fans grill and nothing more!

[topangatiger 0]

It was a bbq grill pushed up against the gym. The gym was all heavy timber construction, essentially clapboard, with a storage room in the rear where they kept paint, gym mats, groundskeeping equipment (IIRC), and the like. All it took was the grill either sending a spark between the boards, or setting the exterior wall on fire, and it went up like a book of matches.

I was a firefigher in Auburn at that time. I was on shift, set to get off at 7PM so I was hoping to catch up to some of the fellas or catch a ticket into the game. At about 655, our men stationed outside the stadium reported the blaze. By the time we arrived just a minute or two later, it was already an inferno inside the gym, far too dangerous to enter and with no life safety exposure.

We were there all night; needless to say, no tailgating. But that was probably the largest audience we ever had at a fire scene, except possibly when some idiot set the trees/TP on fire a few years later.     

[JoeBags7277 759]

I was there and it was one of those nights that nothing seemed to be going right for AU. AU was still in the game until the field house caught on fire and then the wheels came off for AU. The fire was a pure accident from a LSU fans grill and nothing more!

Yeah, not alot of fond memories to be had from that night. We seemed to be able to do just enough to hang around with them, but not much else. Between the fire and the horrible call that took an AU touchdown off the board, that game sticks out in my head as strongly as any other from my childhood.

[WaYnE4AU 0]

Several years ago they did set the tiger tail van on fire and burned it to the ground. Rumor was a drunk LSwho fan walked up and lit the tail trying to be funny.  They have arson in their blood!

[auburnpride99 6]

That was my first year in Auburn.  I had walked to the game from Gentilly Park 2 because Wire Road was locked down with traffic. We watched the fire take off almost instantly from the ramps in the corner of the stadium.  We had planned on watching the game from the ramps because the student section was past max capacity.  That old barn went up in flames completely in about 2 minutes.  It was freaking scary, everyone on the ramps watched the fire and not the game.  We always heard it was a large tailgate grill that caused the fire

[BornAU76 414]

We were entering the stadium on the gates closest to that old gym and the ticket takers were just rushing us in, they didn't even take our tickets and didn't care whether we had them or not.  

What a crazy night that was.  I also remember the flames were up so high that the stadium looked like it was on fire!  It was hard to watch the game with the fear the fire might move over to the stadium or continue somewhere else.  

[TheBlueVue 177]

I've been perusing around the interwebs tonight, and I've read some insinuation that a pissed coonass set the arena on fire in some sort of drunken rage. While the official story is that someone accidentally left their deep fryer on, if there's any fan base other than the Row Tahd nation capable of such, its that one. Any truth to it?

I remember the game well and sitting with my daughter on the west side seeing the flames rising above the stadium. I dont know why an LSU fan would've been in a drunken rage, LSU led that entire game and even thoough we missed a couple PATS plus LSU intercepted an attempt for 2 and ran it all the way back for 2 it was one of the weirdest games, on many levels, that Ive ever attended. I thnk the final was 17-15 if Im not mstaken

[Lint 0]

We were sitting in the student section that night.  It was surreal to see the orange glow of the fire over the stadium and then to see the fire rise up so high. 

From what I remember, the cause was a charcoal grill either sitting too closely to the building or they had emptied the used charcoals next to the building. 

[AUnCullman 601]

Was this it? 

http://www.cynical-c.com/images/SillimanFire1.jpg

[AuburnGrad97 37]

I was in my 4th year of school (out of 5), and was at this game.  Crazy way to watch a football game, with flames shooting up over the stadium like that. 

Also, was this the same year some Florida fans set the bathrooms in Beard Eaves on fire???  That happened while I was enrolled, but can't remember the year.

[Ahsaaref 0]

Was this it? 

http://www.cynical-c.com/images/SillimanFire1.jpg

Well that does look like me middle top row.

[aublaise 204]

I was at the game is 1996 (not the one in the picture from 1800something).  Was in the end zone opposite end from the fire - it was quite a sight.  It rained a bit the afternoon before the game; the rumur I heard was that the tailgators moved under an fieldhouse overhang to get out of the rain and left their grill there when they went to the game.

[AUBURNJAC1345162924 0]

That was my first year at Auburn.  We tailgated on the side of that building with my roomates dad who was a politicain and some other politicians and Auburn officials.    There were some nice cars that got ruined b/c of that fire, and if I'm not mistaken Jimmy Samfords was one of them.    I will never believe that fire was NOT intentionally set.  I firmly believe that some idiot LSU fan set it, even if it was by hot coals!  I remember those flames leaping up over the stadium and the announcer asking everyone to remain calm!  lol.... NO ONE at that game was calm!  We had sh#$ for officiating and LSU just had control of the game.  Then the fire!  That is one memory that will NEVER fade from my memory!

I think we need to beat LSU's coonassed behinds this year in "rememberance" of that fire!  I can't BELIEVE it's been 16 years!  Holy cow!