7:29 p.m. - Friday, Feb. 13, 2004
Aquire The Fire Event Goes Horribly Wrong!
Aquire The Fire Event Goes Terribly Wrong!
Sacremento, CA
by Aaron Alford,
frigmeat news service
Event coordinaters were speechless this morning after last night's 'Aquire The Fire', an evangelical youth concert, ended in mass hysteria and the burning to the ground of Sacremento's Arco Arena.
"Deliriou5? had just finished their set, and then Ron Luce took the stage. I just remember him screaming something about setting this arena on fire for God, and then it's all a blur after that." said Ashley Taylor, 16.
"He kept screaming at us, asking us if we wanted 'the Fire'," said Jimmy Sustar, 15. "We all kept screaming 'YES, YES, WE WANT THE FIRE, WE WANT THE FIRE!' and then I saw him take out what looked like a Zippo, you know, the wind-proof lighter? He took out a Zippo and ran towards Josh McDowell."
The crowd gasped in astonishment as the apologist's sweater burst into flames. Mr. Luce kept screaming.
"The guys from Deliriou5? tried to restrain him, but it was like he had the strength of 10 ordinary motivational speakers! He threw them off like rag dolls! Josh stage-dived into the audience and some kids put him out by stamping on him. It was horrific."
Britney Fallows, 13, describes what followed: "[Mr. Luce], like, started screaming something into the microphone. 'I'M THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE EVER! I'M THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE!' It was really, like, scary and stuff!"
Hundreds of screaming teenagers started following Ron's example and began running about the arena with Zippo wind-proof lighters held high.
"It was like some kind of teen... MANIA!" said youth pastor Jim Nolson, 26. "They kept screaming 'We've aquired the Fire! We've aquired the fire!'"
Quick-thinking youth leaders were able to put out most of the flames with, ironically, officially licensed 'Aquire The Fire' water bottles.
"Everything would've been okay," Nolson says, "but they decided to go on with the next musical act, Jump Five. That's when the fires began again."
Miraculously, most of the teens attending the event escaped with only minor injuries. Mr. McDowell was taken to County Hospital, where he received treatment for minor burns. Mr. Luce was taken to St. Joseph's Mental Hospital, where he is awaiting assessment.
