Re: Commissioned Report on Indiana Fair Tragedy
Report: Collapsed Indiana State Fair stage rigging that killed 7 didn’t meet safety standards - The Washington Post
A highlight from the article:
The company determined that parts of the rigging’s support system began to give way at gusts of 33 mph and that by the time they reached 43 mph, the structure could no longer support itself. Testing showed gusts of 25 mph could have caused the structure to collapse.
“Once gravity had taken over there was essentially no way the structure could support itself,” Nacheman said. “Gravity takes over and the structure fails.”
The report says the stage structure had support wires attached to concrete barriers used as ballast to hold it in place, but that the system was inadequate to withstand lateral forces such as high winds and was “grossly inadequate.”
The state hired Thornton Tomasetti to review the stage structure and Washington-based Witt Associates to investigate the fair’s emergency plans and response.
Charlie Fisher, a vice president for Witt Associates, told the commission that “an ambiguity of authority” resulted in confusion and uncertainty over who was in charge of public safety as officials discussed whether to postpone the concert just before strong winds blew stage rigging onto waiting fans.
He said fair organizers’ overall state of preparedness “was not adequate” for an event that size, their emergency response plan and procedures weren’t fully developed, and they didn’t utilize the plans they did have on the night of the collapse.
