It was during the 1980s that they really invaded down there with force. As a boy in the 1970s, they didn't seem to be as much as a problem. I used to thrust sticks and other objects into the mounds all the time and watch them swarm all over it. Once, and only once, I stuck some firecrackers into a mound. The result was I got some of the sand and ants sprayed onto my pants. I didn't get bit but decided not to press my luck any further.
I do a lot of outside work, got a big garden, always out and about. Despite my precautions, I always get stung up several times a year.
I am at perpetual war with the fire ant nation!