1999 — Nov 18, Texas A&M University Bonfire stack collapse, College Station, TX– 12
— 12 History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, November 16, 1999
— 12 United States Fire Administration. Bonfire Collapse Texas A&M University… 1999.
Narrative Information
USFA: “In keeping with a ninety-year old tradition, fifty-eight people were working to construct the fourth tier of the 1999 bonfire stack on the campus of the Texas A&M University during the early morning hours of November 18, 1999. The bonfire is ignited every year on the eve of football game between Texas A&M and its arch rival the University of Texas at Austin. The fort-foot stack, consisting of approximately 5,000 logs, collapsed killing eleven people and sending twenty-eight to area hospitals. One of the injured would later die, bringing the total number killed in the incident to twelve.
“There were emergency medical personnel from the University’s Emergency Medical Service at the scene when the collapse occurred. EMS personnel immediately began to triage the injured bonfire workers and to assist with the rescue effort. The first call to 9-1-1 was received by the City of College Station’s Emergency Communications Center at 02:43 hours….An engine company and an ALS ambulance from the College Station Fire Department were dispatched and arrived on the scene within four and one half minutes.
“The first firefighters to arrive at the incident were confronted with a scene eerily reminiscent of the children’s game of pick-up-sticks. Command was established and additional resources were ordered immediately upon realization of the magnitude of the event. The rescue and recovery effort lasted almost twenty-four hours and involved over 3,200 individuals from over fifty different agencies.
“The magnitude and unique nature of the incident quickly attracted National attention. At the height of the incident, approximately fifty satellite television trucks were broadcasting from the scene, including a number of Regional television stations that broadcast live from the scene throughout the event….
“Shortly after the incident, the President of the University appointed an independent commission of inquiry to determine the cause of the collapse. The commission was assisted in their inquiry by a number of experts as well as staff from the University. On May 2, 2000, the Commission released their much-anticipated findings. Their inquiry concluded that the 1999 bonfire collapsed due to a number of both physical and organizational factors. According to the Report’s Summary of Findings, the structural collapse of the bonfire stack was driven by a containment failure in the first stack of logs….
Organizational factors resulted in an environment in which a complex and dangerous structure was allowed to be built without adequate physical or engineering controls. Organizational failure included the absence of an appropriate written design or design process; a cultural bias, which impedes risk identification; and the lack of a proactive risk management approach.” (USFA-TR-133, 1999, Bonfire Collapse)
Sources
History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, November 16, 1999. “Construction Begins on Deadly Bonfire.” Accessed 11/25/2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=11/16&categoryId=disaster
United States Fire Administration. Bonfire Collapse Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas (USFA-TR-133). Emmitsburg, MD: USFA, DHS, November 1999, 62 pages. Accessed at: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-133.pdf
Additional Reading
Burka, Paul. “The Aggie Bonfire Tragedy.” Texas Monthly, April 2000. Accessed 11-23-2015 at: http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-aggie-bonfire-tragedy/
Remembering Bonfire (A Recognized Student Organization at Texas A&M University). “List of Fallen Aggies.” Accessed 11-23-2015 at: http://bonfire.tamu.edu/memorialFallen