Best April Fool’s Prank Ever

So I know April Fool’s already passed but I thought this story was to great not to share. A few days ago, I was reading up on some April Fool’s pranks and came across the story of Oliver “Porky” Bickar. He pranked the people in the cold little region of Sitka, Alaska, by setting tires on fire in the dormant volcano of Mount Edgecumbe.

Porky spent 4 years preparing this epic prank for April 1st, 1974. It was a bright clear day (which is exactly what Porky needed) in Sitka, Alaska and with the help of a few friends, a helicopter, kerosene, and smoke bombs, Porky burned the hundreds of tires he had recently flown into the dormant volcano on fire.

How tires burn

Different kinds of rubber, carbon black and oil make up tires, so they burn with a thick, black smoke. They release cyanide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and products of butadiene and styrene into the atmosphere. So burning hundreds of tires would release a LOT of this smoke, making it look like the dormant volcano was erupting.

Of course, all the locals were worried on seeing this. Some thought it would erupt any minute, so they began to evacuate. They called the authorities and even the coast guard came up. The latter took their helicopters up there and were able to see where the smoke was actually coming from. They assured everyone of their safety.

Apparently, Porky had notified the local authorities of what he was going to do and they were ok with it. Nowadays the EPA would deem it a terrible crime and would give you a huge fine for hurting the environment. But at the time it was totally legal. But even if we can’t do something like this anymore, we can still appreciate the originality and dedication this guy had. This prank totally deserves to be called the Best April Fool’s Day Prank.