<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Ksimp:
...I would have thought it would have been cheaper to do that in the case of the OP as opposed to burning 1800 lbs of fuel.</font>
1800 lbs. of fuel, at 6.84 lbs./gal., is about 263 gallons. Jet fuel costs a bit under 83¢/gal. these days, so the fuel they burned cost under $220.
So, unless they could have found 10-12 volunteers for $20 apiece, not too likely, burning fuel was cheaper. (It bothers me too, in both its environmental and its general waste aspects, but they still made the right decision on a cost basis.)