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Dallas Mourns Big Tex on Social Media

A photo montage tribute to Big Tex set to music and uploaded onto YouTube on Friday.

For 60 years, Big Tex has towered over the annual State Fair of Texas, wearing his signature cowboy shirt and always a 75-gallon hat. The 52-foot-tall cowboy statue is such an icon in Dallas that when it was destroyed by a fast-moving electrical fire that began in its size-70 boots on Friday, as my colleague Manny Fernandez reports, the people of the city turned to social media to share and to mourn. The mayor vowed to rebuild.

No one was injured in the blaze, which can be seen in cellphone video.

Short cellphone video showing Big Tex on fire

The news prompted Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas to head to the scene, where he vowed that Big Tex would stand again.

Big Tex was even had his own Facebook page, wh ich attracted hundreds of comments.

“RIP…..Rebuild In Pride that's what Big Tex represents to Texans. Love you, Big Tex. ♥,” wrote Suzy Hagar on Facebook.

The Dallas Morning News set up a page for people to leave comments. The newspaper also pointed readers to an article about Big Tex recently turning 60 and pulled together photos of him over the years.

Big Tex charmed visitors with his voice as well as his size. He could talk, as seen here in a YouTube video uploaded in 2007.

Big Tex greets visitors in this video uploaded onto YouTube in 2007

Some people expressed regret on Twi tter for not getting their photo next to Big Tex this year. Others voiced their relief and shared their recent photos with the big, tall guy.