Had the engineering school been in charge instead of drunk 20 year olds, it likely would not have happened, They kept trying to build higher and higher with junk pallets and disaster was inevitable. Put a registered engineer in charge, on a permanent concrete surface and fixed center pole and you could have your tradition back. There are hundreds of capable Aggie engineers who would wet their pants to be named "Bonfire Master" or some such, and their company would gladly give them a few weeks of paid time off just for the honor.

beardoc said:

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Had the engineering school been in charge instead of drunk 20 year olds, it likely would not have happened, They kept trying to build higher and higher with junk pallets and disaster was inevitable. Put a registered engineer in charge, on a permanent concrete surface and fixed center pole and you could have your tradition back. There are hundreds of capable Aggie engineers who would wet their pants to be named "Bonfire Master" or some such, and their company would gladly give them a few weeks of paid time off just for the honor.

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Honestly guys... do a little research before you comment on stuff.
The bonfire was getting shorter and shorter each year. It reached the peak height back in the 60s at over 100 feet. It was a big problem. So the school decided to scale it down over time to the height it was when the students died, around 55 feet.
It didn't collapse because they were trying to go higher. It had reached the limit and been that height for a few years.

Other than steadily increasing the height, what he said was correct. The '99 bonfire did exceed the height guidelines, although you are correct that likely wasn't the biggest contributor to its fall.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-aggie-bonfire-tragedy/

Ask any Aggie who was in school at the time and they all said the engineering school had expressed concerns annually for years, especially after it fell early in construction phase in '94 or '95.

Like all Aggy traditions, their bonfire was ridiculous and silly. And the push to bring it back is equally ridiculous.

I heard an interview this morning about it and the stated purpose for the organizers was that the dead students would have wanted the tradition to continue.

I am sorry but you can't kill people through gross negligence and continue the activity.

The collapse of the bonfire was one of the worst tragedies of my lifetime.

12 students working on the bonfire were killed.

One true hero of the nightmare was a student pinned down by the huge logs up high the entangled mess. Rescuers were unable to reach the young man for hours as they had to carefully rescue those pinned below him without causing another collapse of the logs.

So this young man high in the collapse provided intel on the location of others even though he was in horrible pain.

His intel has been credited with saving the lives of other trapped victims.

However he himself was not reached in time to save his life.

I don't recall his name and I don't wish to look it up.

KaiBear said:

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The collapse of the bonfire was one of the worst tragedies of my lifetime.

12 students working on the bonfire were killed.

One true hero of the nightmare was a student pinned down by the huge logs up high the entangled mess. Rescuers were unable to reach the young man for hours as they had to carefully rescue those pinned below him without causing another collapse of the logs.

So this young man high in the collapse provided intel on the location of others even though he was in horrible pain.

His intel has been credited with saving the lives of other trapped victims.

However he himself was not reached in time to save his life.

I don't recall his name and I don't wish to look it up.

---

I remember seeing the picture of him. Talking and alive, yet pinned and unable to be saved.

Man I cried over that one, made me sick to my stomach. A kid from Arlington that my brother
had taught in school died that day.

Seeing those kids pinned in those logs, some still alive but unreachable was sad as you get.

beardoc said:

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Had the engineering school been in charge instead of drunk 20 year olds, it likely would not have happened, They kept trying to build higher and higher with junk pallets and disaster was inevitable. Put a registered engineer in charge, on a permanent concrete surface and fixed center pole and you could have your tradition back. There are hundreds of capable Aggie engineers who would wet their pants to be named "Bonfire Master" or some such, and their company would gladly give them a few weeks of paid time off just for the honor.

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They have been building bonfire for the last 21 years off campus. It is all student led and no mention of engineering or adult oversight in the WacoTrib's article today.

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/tamu-bonfire-disaster-25th-student-memorial/article_c1d6cfb9-bb4c-50e3-bbb0-4c6ecf208d5f.html#tncms-source=login

KaiBear said:

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Forest Bueller_bf said:

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KaiBear said:

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The collapse of the bonfire was one of the worst tragedies of my lifetime.

12 students working on the bonfire were killed.

One true hero of the nightmare was a student pinned down by the huge logs up high the entangled mess. Rescuers were unable to reach the young man for hours as they had to carefully rescue those pinned below him without causing another collapse of the logs.

So this young man high in the collapse provided intel on the location of others even though he was in horrible pain.

His intel has been credited with saving the lives of other trapped victims.

However he himself was not reached in time to save his life.

I don't recall his name and I don't wish to look it up.

---

I remember seeing the picture of him. Talking and alive, yet pinned and unable to be saved.

Man I cried over that one, made me sick to my stomach. A kid from Arlington that my brother
had taught in school died that day.

Seeing those kids pinned in those logs, some still alive but unreachable was sad as you get.

---

My oldest friend called me that day.

Said the bonfire had collapsed , students were killed; but he wanted me to know from him rather than on the news.

Having dinner with him and his wife tonight. Been friends for almost 40 years. His lovely wife had a severe stroke 3 years ago yet he has taken gentle care of her 24 hours a day ever since.

Money is not everything; and he is a far better man than me where it counts.

---

Hearing these kind of stories helps me remember that not all aggies are turds. I sometimes forget.

Sad that the school never thought to just implement a few safety regulations on the Bonfire built

(like no night time construction and wrapping the stack of logs in steel support cables)

That would have prevented that tragedy from ever taking place

[The bonfire structure consisted of a tiered stack of logs, with the outer tiers acting as support for the inner tiers. One key finding was that the tiers were not aligned correctly, with the center poles of the upper tiers not placed directly above those in the lower tiers. This misalignment led to a non-uniform load distribution, causing the lower tiers to support excessive loads, which they weren't designed to withstand.
Compounding the issue, the construction technique relied heavily on crude, manual methods, including wedging smaller logs to adjust for irregularities in the larger logs. This method, though it had sufficed in the past, proved inadequate in ensuring stability for a structure of such magnitude. It was a stark reminder that engineering principles cannot be bypassed, even when tradition dictates otherwise.
A lack of professional oversight was another major contributing factor. Unlike traditional construction projects, the bonfire was built largely by students, with little direct oversight from experienced engineers or professionals. While fostering spirit and camaraderie, this led to a scenario where safety and structural integrity were compromised.]

https://noonpi.com/the-1999-aggie-bonfire-collapse/

Exactly. We get tarred with in suspect rape conviction, and the world forgets aggy let ****-faced college students perform dangerous construction, and it kills 12 students.

Forest Bueller_bf said:

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KaiBear said:

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The collapse of the bonfire was one of the worst tragedies of my lifetime.

12 students working on the bonfire were killed.

One true hero of the nightmare was a student pinned down by the huge logs up high the entangled mess. Rescuers were unable to reach the young man for hours as they had to carefully rescue those pinned below him without causing another collapse of the logs.

So this young man high in the collapse provided intel on the location of others even though he was in horrible pain.

His intel has been credited with saving the lives of other trapped victims.

However he himself was not reached in time to save his life.

I don't recall his name and I don't wish to look it up.

---

I remember seeing the picture of him. Talking and alive, yet pinned and unable to be saved.

Man I cried over that one, made me sick to my stomach. A kid from Arlington that my brother
had taught in school died that day.

Seeing those kids pinned in those logs, some still alive but unreachable was sad as you get.

---

That's awful. Not yo be crass - dis he bleed to death?

Harrison Bergeron said:

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Forest Bueller_bf said:

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KaiBear said:

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The collapse of the bonfire was one of the worst tragedies of my lifetime.

12 students working on the bonfire were killed.

One true hero of the nightmare was a student pinned down by the huge logs up high the entangled mess. Rescuers were unable to reach the young man for hours as they had to carefully rescue those pinned below him without causing another collapse of the logs.

So this young man high in the collapse provided intel on the location of others even though he was in horrible pain.

His intel has been credited with saving the lives of other trapped victims.

However he himself was not reached in time to save his life.

I don't recall his name and I don't wish to look it up.

---

I remember seeing the picture of him. Talking and alive, yet pinned and unable to be saved.

Man I cried over that one, made me sick to my stomach. A kid from Arlington that my brother
had taught in school died that day.

Seeing those kids pinned in those logs, some still alive but unreachable was sad as you get.

---

That's awful. Not yo be crass - dis he bleed to death?

---

So long ago I don't remember the exact cause. I believe a part of his body was crushed and he the logs were basically holding him together. It was terrible, I remember that well.

Forest Bueller_bf said:

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Harrison Bergeron said:

---

Forest Bueller_bf said:

---

KaiBear said:

---

The collapse of the bonfire was one of the worst tragedies of my lifetime.

12 students working on the bonfire were killed.

One true hero of the nightmare was a student pinned down by the huge logs up high the entangled mess. Rescuers were unable to reach the young man for hours as they had to carefully rescue those pinned below him without causing another collapse of the logs.

So this young man high in the collapse provided intel on the location of others even though he was in horrible pain.

His intel has been credited with saving the lives of other trapped victims.

However he himself was not reached in time to save his life.

I don't recall his name and I don't wish to look it up.

---

I remember seeing the picture of him. Talking and alive, yet pinned and unable to be saved.

Man I cried over that one, made me sick to my stomach. A kid from Arlington that my brother
had taught in school died that day.

Seeing those kids pinned in those logs, some still alive but unreachable was sad as you get.

---

That's awful. Not yo be crass - dis he bleed to death?

---

So long ago I don't remember the exact cause. I believe a part of his body was crushed and he the logs were basically holding him together. It was terrible, I remember that well.

---

He was crushed to death. However he still managed to directly save the lives of several others.

Yet our culture glorifies those who can put a ball in a hoop or complete a pass into an endzone.

Will never comprehend how our priorities got so screwed up.

Baylor has a bonfire tradition the night before the homecoming football game. I haven't been to one since the 1980s but it seems like it hasn't changed much. As I see it, it is a simple tradition for fun & fellowship. Mostly harmless. The Aggies made the mistake of taking it far too seriously, on the one hand, to be the focus of too much attention. On the other hand, they had no effective controls. There were dozens of students working on it in a party atmosphere getting drunk and clearly not taking sufficient precautions. There was no real supervision and the result was disaster. The university had to pay off some families & the tradition ended.

Sometimes it seems like Aggie traditions become like religious rituals. To be fair, one could argue that many of our secular habits can seem that way. If we are truly introspective and give it serious thought. That's the danger.