Police said that on Wednesday evening, Chihao Wu, a student studying English at Lewis-Clark State College, arranged rolled-up clothes, dowsed in lamp oil, in a parking lot to spell ``Happy Birthday'' in his native language. He then summoned his girlfriend and lit the fiery display.
When police and members of the Lewiston Fire Department arrived, they found Wu stomping on the still-burning clothing. The would-be Casanova's conflagration ended when the fire department took an extinguisher to the flames, police said.
Despite a language barrier, police officer Nick Krakalia questioned Wu.
``It was his lady friend's birthday and he lit this fire in celebration,'' Krakalia wrote in his report.
Wu said there was no tradition of such displays in his country, but he was trying ``to show devotion to the female,'' Krakalia said.
Wu cleaned up the mess and was not ticketed for the incident.
But he may have to find a new way to woo his woman.
When Krakalia asked if she was impressed with the display, she simply said ``No.''
