In 1974 residents of Sitka, Alaska were alarmed when the long-dormant volcano neighboring them, Mount Edgecumbe, suddenly began to belch out billows of black smoke. People spilled out of their homes onto the streets to gaze up at the volcano, terrified that it was active again and might soon erupt. Luckily it turned out that man, not nature, was responsible for the smoke. A local practical joker named Porky Bickar had flown hundreds of old tires into the volcano's crater and then lit them on fire, all in a (successful) attempt to fool the city dwellers into believing that the volcano was stirring to life. According to local legend, when Mount St. Helens erupted six years later, a Sitka resident wrote to Bickar to tell him, "This time you've gone too far!" (photo via sitka.com)
Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.

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This is a good one.
Posted by Julia  in  California  on  Tue Mar 30, 2004  at  01:07 PM

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Great joke!


Posted by Kent  in  Malmš, Sweden  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  07:21 AM

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Sadly, Porky passed away a few months ago, but his legend lives on.
Posted by Kate  in  Sitka  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  09:04 AM

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While I have to conceed this was a good prank, it is definately leaning on the cruel side.
Posted by Jennifer  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  09:36 AM

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This same stunt was done by a University of New Mexico fraternity in the 1950s in one of the extinct volcanos on the west mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico.


Posted by tk  in  Bloomington, Indiana, USA  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  12:59 PM

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jokes can go so far before they aren't funny any more
Posted by ace maverick  in  WA  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  02:11 PM

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That was one his his best, as most SE Alaska folks know he was on of the "dirty dozen" pranksters that have a long list of such great stunts to their credit. Yes, he will be missed.
Posted by Joe DeTemple  in  Washougal, WA  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  09:56 PM

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Cruel joke, but I thought this bit was priceless.

"a Sitka resident wrote to Bickar to tell him, "This time you've gone too far!"
Posted by Ian  on  Sun Nov 28, 2004  at  07:49 PM

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I am from SE Alaska, and I think that this joke was rad! HAHAHHA Root for the little man, rock on AK!
Posted by Erica Lynn  in  Douglas AK  on  Wed Mar 30, 2005  at  12:57 AM

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smileys

This one should be #1. Most of these pranks were done by TV news, radio stations, and newspapers. Any mass media can pull off a hoax on a large audience, but it takes a special kind of person to pull off something of this magnitude single-handedly. Rock on.
Posted by Adam  in  New Orleans  on  Sat Apr 02, 2005  at  02:53 PM

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It's Albequerque and definitely. What kind of idiots are you. And Adam, you weren't supposed to write down "Smileys".
Posted by Intelligence quotient.  on  Fri Apr 08, 2005  at  02:38 PM

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haha what a classic.
Posted by fishy  on  Sat Apr 16, 2005  at  08:28 AM

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I was there in 1974 as a 12 yr old and it made a lasting impression on me. (Porky's wife was my Algebra teacher) I remember my dad (Doc Spencer) telling me that he got a $50 fine for that prank. Small price for fun. His boys and my brothers liked to throw dynamite in the lake off their boat too. Had to find someway to have fun!
Posted by Mary  in  Texas  on  Tue Oct 25, 2005  at  04:48 PM

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Yes, I have just heard of this when I climbed edgecumbe a couple of weeks ago. Indeed, it shoudl be placed higher on the list, though I was not expecting to find this on the internet.
Posted by Ely Cyrus  in  Sitka, Ak  on  Tue Nov 15, 2005  at  01:09 PM

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The sad thing is I remember this happening (dam I'm getting old)... Porky Was indeed one interesting fellow.
Posted by AlaskanMan  in  Alaska  on  Tue Dec 20, 2005  at  11:51 PM

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Oh wow I had a teacher several years ago who explained he had some invovlement about this volcano prank. I never thought it was true until I found this now!!!
Posted by Dusty  on  Sat Mar 25, 2006  at  04:11 PM

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This is awesome. The best jokes are the ones that trick people, without making the person look stupid and gullible. I love it.
Posted by Jo  in  Spain  on  Sun Apr 02, 2006  at  01:47 AM

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This is quite a joke pulled off by one man but think about the pollution it caused
Posted by Seattle  in  Washington  on  Mon Apr 03, 2006  at  09:18 AM

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Surely not as much pollution as new york or even juneau puts out in one day. It was a great joke, classic
Posted by ely  in  Sitka  on  Mon Apr 03, 2006  at  10:05 AM

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I was there too----I took my study hall out so they could watch. It took several years to pull of since it had to be a clear day to be seen 13 miles away---the previous 4 years had been overcast. The helicopter pilot came from Petersburg as the local pilot was afraid to take part. Police dept, Fire Dept and FFA had all been notified to prevent any catastophes. Three other members of the Dirty Dozen helped load the tires at the Sitka starting point. Polution??? No one could smell it from Sitka. By the way it took 100 tires to make that much smoke. Porky's wife.
Posted by Patty Bickar  in  Sitka  on  Mon Apr 03, 2006  at  11:42 PM

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