The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s technical review of the Texas A&M bonfire collapse provides valuable insights into the management of large-scale emergencies. Among the lessons learned: pre-incident planning and tabletop exercises do help and chief officers dealing with such challenging emergencies must “think big” in ordering additional resources immediately.

A technical review of the response to the Texas A&M University bonfire collapse, which killed 12 university students and graduates, is being released by the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency today. According to the review, emergency responders dealing with such challenging emergencies should "think big" in terms of ordering additional resources immediately to meet possible management needs.

"This report offers valuable insights into the management of large-scale emergencies," said Michael D. Brown, under secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. "It also shows the importance of pre-incident planning. In this case, there had been a tabletop exercise with city and university responders just one week prior to the event and the university's emergency management service personnel had conducted a drill just two weeks before."

The review, compiled by the U.S. Fire Administration, also pointed out the importance of a strong incident command system, which was not in place at this event, complicating the management of more than 3,000 responders from 50 different agencies.

Other lessons learned cited in the report include:

• The advantages of having electric power and hardwired telephone lines brought to the scene's command post to help with communications as the magnitude of the emergency quickly exceeded the capabilities of the emergency responder communications systems, and the telecommunications system of the community and two local hospitals;

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• The need to consider redirecting non-critical patients to other medical facilities in an event involving multiple casualties, since the capabilities of local hospitals can be easily overwhelmed;

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• The need to provide additional staffing to hospitals, which may need help in a multi-casualty incident to assist with unloading patients and dealing with families and friends of the injured; and

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• The need to control rumors. So much misinformation was broadcast following the collapse that two local hospitals turned off their television sets to reduce anxiety.

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"While a unified command system was not in place at this incident, our report shows that many of the fire departments responding did use a standardized incident management system," said US Fire Administrator R. David Paulison. "Based on that finding alone, the report serves to uncover significant 'lessons learned' from this tragic incident."

USFA develops reports on selected major fires and emergencies, usually involving multiple deaths or a large loss of property. The objective reviews are intended to uncover significant "lessons learned" or new knowledge about firefighting or to underscore ongoing issues in fire service. USFA, which has no regulatory authority, sends an experienced fire investigator to the community after a major incident only after conferring with local fire authorities.

Texas A&M University is located in College Station, Texas, and has an annual enrollment of more than 40,000 students. The university is the site of a training school for firefighters and the headquarters of Texas Task Force One, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team. As part of a 90-year-old tradition, 58 people were working to construct the fourth tier of the bonfire stack on the campus in the early morning hours of Nov. 18, 1999.

The 40-foot stack, consisting of some 5,000 logs, collapsed without warning. In addition to the 12 deaths, another 27 people were injured.

The rescue effort began immediately as emergency personnel were on the site at the time of the collapse and lasted almost 24 hours. Listening devices and search cameras were used to locate trapped victims.

Click here to download a copy of the full report.