In 1976 the proud 60′ tall mascot of the Chehalis store caught fire and was burned to a crisp. According to reports a car had an engine fire while driving between its legs. The fire jumped to the bird, which had been recently varnished. We have been told that the bird had a sprinkler system installed, but that it had been damaged due to freezing the previous winter and had not been repaired yet.
My mother is actually friends with the former classmate of the daughter of the woman who’s car caused the fire. Fun fact!
I grew up in Chehalis and was 11 in 1976. I remember playing in the yard and seeing a big column of black smoke.
Some of the crusty old guys in town muttered that it was deliberately staged by the owners as a publicity stunt.
I worked at Yard Birds and was waiting for my dad to come pick me up from work. I watch the whole burn down. It was 95 degrees out; the bird had just got a fresh coat of lacquer. The kid with the 67 green dodge with huge back wheels was trying to show off by revving his motor in place. all the sudden the back end caught on fire, the kid jumped out of the car and the car gently rolled into the cement blocks of the bird. Because of the fresh lacquer of the bird and the heat both outside and of the car it didn’t take long to ignited in about ten minutes that bird was toast. I don’t think any of this was staged.