Stage rigging collapses at Indiana State Fair

[derekleffew]

ANSI E1.21 - 2006 Temporary Ground-Supported Overhead Structures Used To Cover Stage Areas and Support Equipment in the Production of Outdoor Entertainment Events

ANSI E1.21-2006, Temporary Ground-Supported Overhead Structures Used To Cover Stage Areas and Support Equipment in the Production of Outdoor Entertainment Events, establishes minimum design and performance parameters for the design, manufacturing, use, and maintenance of temporary outdoor stage roofs. Roofs are useful for supporting audio and lighting equipment and for keeping sun and rain off performers and equipment at summer music festivals, but strong storms can turn them into missiles or rubble. E1.21 is designed to ensure that only violent storms are a problem and that appropriate safety measures are in place to prevent or limit damage when these storms arise.

 

[derekleffew]

It's my understanding it was a MidAmerica Stage.

Your understanding might be correct.

Steel Roof Truss Design Systems Manufacturer Metal Roof Trusses


Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush - Sugarland In Concert - Sugarland's Stage Collapses - Photo Gallery - LIFE

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Rumor on other Internet sites has it that two IA Local 30 stagehands were injured. Also that (possibly the same) two truss spot ops were in the truss when it collapsed.

EDIT: Correction, four truss spot ops: two critical, one with a broken leg, and one "just banged up."

 

[JohnHuntington]

A bit clearer video on CNN--this one is really horrifying.

 

[JohnHuntington]

If that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised if the National Weather Service had issued storm warnings, which should have triggered an evacuation.

Looks like the watch went up from the Storm Prediction Center about 1/2 an hour after the incident.

EDITED: Looking more carefully I found the previous watch--the area was under a watch at the time of the incident.

It's possible that this line had a warning on it, I'm trying to figure out how to find that archive, which are issued by local forecast offices.

And I totally agree with you about the SAME radio--I have one here at home in Brooklyn and it just went off for a Flash Flood Warning. Cost me about $40. I have a little portable one that I used for years on the Met Opera/NY Phil outdoor tours, and there is apparently an IPhone app that works the same way. I get text messages for severe storms in NYC.

I think the NWS does a fantastic job--I just did a little write up on the local office last Sunday when they had their annual open house.

But an event this size, I think, should be talking with someone at the NWS or a local TV station or something.

John

 

[JohnBirchman]

WISH 8 out of Indy reported that the latest death (#5) was a stagehand from IA local 30, 52-year-old stagehand Nathan Byrd, passing away at 5am this morning. His brother spoke, and said that he was one of the truss spot ops, possibly in a down-stage position.

 

[ScottT]

Photos from the collapse: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233517350025642.61407.100001021352237&type=1

 

[sdauditorium]

Photos from the collapse: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233517350025642.61407.100001021352237&type=1

Amazing photos..gave me chills as I perused them.

 

[derekleffew]

From indystar :

But the weather near the Indiana State Fairgrounds was starting to get dicey. Backstage, State Police special operations commander Brad Weaver was watching an ugly storm moving in on radar via his smartphone. He and fair Executive Director Cindy Hoye decided it was time to evacuate the crowd.

But a minute later, when WLHK program director Bob Richards addressed the crowd, the word was that the show would go on, and that the crowd should be prepared to find shelter if things changed. Some of the crowd sensed the danger and left without further word. But the majority remained.

 

[JD]

Having been in the industry since the early 70s, I can say that the number of these types on incidents has increased. A large part of this has to do with show expectations. As mentioned earlier, people want to see the same thing outdoors that they would see in an indoor arena. Also, stage expectations have changed. Gone are the open frame stages with no roof (1960's) built from scaffold towers that took a week or more to set up. (Not that they were free from disaster!) The modern stage often is draped on all sides, and includes a roof. All of these things act like giant sails. However, in this case, wind speeds were clocked at 60 to 70 mph so I am not sure any temporary structure would have been 100% safe. Although rigs are designed well to handle vertical loads, the horizontal and diagonal loading caused by a storm becomes very hard to predict.

In any case, this comes on the heels of the collapse at the Cheap Trick concert in Canada. It may be time for a review of what industry expectations are for holding outside events, as well as how hard people (promoters, etc.) push back against cancellations. Surly, the prediction of a storm such as was seen on radar should qualify as a reason to cancel, or at least delay and clear the grounds until it passes.

 

[JohnHuntington]

It looks like I'm going to be on the Weatherbrains podcast tomorrow night, asking questions of the meteorologists on the show about what we, as crew members, should be looking out for in severe weather.

My current question list includes what should we, as non-meteorologists, look for on radar? (gust fronts, bow echoes, etc) What about cloud conditions, sudden temperature shifts, etc?

Any other questions I should ask?

Thanks!

John

 

[JD]

Boy, for seven years my wife and I ran a church carnival. We would have the radar on in the office every night and check it every few minutes. Sometimes, you would see a strong storm coming and it would fall apart right as it came in the area. Other times, something would boil up out of nothing right in front of us. This one looked like it was building as compared to dissipating and there were warnings out. Somebody held off pulling the plug. I am sure they were under a lot of pressure and that's when objectivity gets lost.

 

[JohnHuntington]

Sometimes, you would see a strong storm coming and it would fall apart right as it came in the area. Other times, something would boil up out of nothing right in front of us.

That's an excellent point. I've seen that over and over.

The answer, probably, is that you'd have to look at an atmospheric sounding (or projected sounding) or CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy) to see if conditions are favorable for storm development. And, then, suddenly, you need to hire a meteorologist

John

 

[MNicolai]

And, then, suddenly, you need to hire a meteorologist

You may have been joking around, but that's actually not a bad idea. When I've done small outdoor events (1200 people attending), we've always been able to call our local NWS office or a local news channel to talk to a meteorologist. Days in advance, they'll talk in detail about their forecasts for the event day, and then the day of, they can be a valuable resource for determining whether to cancel or not.

 

[mstaylor]

We used to build a Mountain Stage at a certain venue that decided to build a permanent stage. It is still a roof system but you have no ability to drop the roof in weather. The company says not to move the roof in over 20 MPH winds. It has hard guys that X tower to tower that have to be removed before moving it. I can't see it moving in less than three hours notice.

 

[JohnHuntington]

You may have been joking around, but that's actually not a bad idea. When I've done small outdoor events (1200 people attending), we've always been able to call our local NWS office or a local news channel to talk to a meteorologist. Days in advance, they'll talk in detail about their forecasts for the event day, and then the day of, they can be a valuable resource for determining whether to cancel or not.

Oh, absolutely, I think that's a great idea. Events I have worked on have been in communication with the local NWS office.

My point was mostly that (and I say this after taking two college-level meteorology courses in recent years) the weather gets really complex really fast, and knowing whether or not a line of storms will hold together takes some serious forecasting chops. Mike Smith was working for a client in the area of the the Indianapolis tragedy at the same time and made this prediction:

This event was predictable. Our team at AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions was monitoring the weather for a client near the Fairgrounds. We issued a warning for 60 mph winds at 8:23pm EDT valid from 8:45 until 9:25pm. According to the National Weather Service's preliminary report, the collapse occurred between 8:50 and 8:55pm.

Personally, I would be pushing to postpone any show when under a severe warning as a general policy.

John

 

[MNicolai]

With that information, is 30 minutes enough time to get the truss spot ops down, the roof lowered, and crew/performers/audience evacuated?

Should they have cancelled earlier than that?

Is that perhaps the right time to cancel (@ 8:23p when the warning went out), but at that point is the only appropriate action to abandon ship without trying to save the structure?

 

[JohnHuntington]

With that information, is 30 minutes enough time to get the truss spot ops down, the roof lowered, and crew/performers/audience evacuated?

Should they have cancelled earlier than that?

Is that perhaps the right time to cancel (@ 8:23p when the warning went out), but at that point is the only appropriate action to abandon ship without trying to save the structure?

I wasn't there, and am totally speculating, but the press reports, collated from a State Police timeline, showed that a State Police officer was monitoring the storm on his smartphone. They didn't have access to the paid services from Accuweather, and I haven't read any reports showing that they had any more info than what was on the smartphone. I've tried to chase storms from the radar on my Android and it's basically worthless--too coarse and too slow data. (I run GRLevel2 and pay for hi-res data.) And, Accuweather reports that the taxpayer-funded National Weather Service had issued a (free) severe warning for the area:

The NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Marion County in Indiana at 8:39 p.m. EDT that was to expire at 9:45 p.m. EDT. The warning was updated at 8:58 p.m. EDT to state that the thunderstorms would be at the state fairgrounds around 9:20 p.m. EDT

(There's still some confusion for me with the time line--does anyone know exactly what time the collapse took place? In any case, the area was under a severe watch so they should have been watching closely)

The SPC says:

The term severe thunderstorm refers to a thunderstorm producing hail that is at least quarter size, 1 inch in diameter or larger, and/or wind gusts to 58 mph or greater, and/or a tornado.

None of those things would be good for a show. So I guess my general policy would be when a severe-warned storm is 0-30 minutes away, I would stop the show, get anyone out of the rigging, clear the stage and move the audience away from the stage.

On a big stage, it's probably impractical at that point to lower the roof, especially with high winds on the way, and that all means that they need areas of refuge, and I saw the Fair director on TV this morning saying that they announced three areas for the audience. The crew and the performers also need something though...

John

 

[JohnHuntington]

The NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Marion County in Indiana at 8:39 p.m. EDT that was to expire at 9:45 p.m. EDT. The warning was updated at 8:58 p.m. EDT to state that the thunderstorms would be at the state fairgrounds around 9:20 p.m. EDT

Indystar.com puts the collapse at 8:44pm. That only gave them about five minutes to act. But since the whole area was already under watch conditions, the warning should not have come as a surprise.

John

 

[zmb]

Perhaps, considering that buildings have to meet certain requirements in the number of exits, time to exit, alarm systems and more, that outdoor stages should have more ridgid requirements on time for breaking one down and time to evacuate the area during severe weather.

 

[Jamie]

I have worked with MidAmerica Sound in the past and actually put up this roof twice - Local 30 is great and all safety measures were followed in terms of guy wires, etc. One year I was working this stage, there was some bad wind and the mesh scrim being used as a back drop was lowered immediately.

By the looks of the photos, events are just trying to throw arena shows under tents with the consequences being more events as this.