1 dead, 15 hurt after stage collapses in Alberta

[Esau.]

Updated Sun. Aug. 2 2009 12:19 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

One woman has been killed and 15 people have been injured after a powerful storm knocked down the main stage at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, a small city near Edmonton.

The main stage collapsed just as American country singer Billy Currington was wrapping up his set.

Fifteen people have been taken to hospital and four people have been classified as "critically injured."

Camrose Police Chief Darrell Kambeitz told The Canadian Press that all of the injured have been taken to hospital and reports that dozens were trapped under debris are untrue.

"One individual is confirmed deceased and fifteen others were injured. All of the injured have been transported to hospitals. Decisions regarding the continuation of the jamboree will be made at a later time."

Country singer Jessie Farrell said she watched the stage collapse from her trailer and said it collapsed inwards like it was in an "explosion."

"The stage is in a million pieces," the Vancouver-based singer said.

She told CTV News Channel Saturday evening that there was about a minute warning of a storm coming, which she described as like "bombs going off."

"Lightning, hail, thunder . . . it looked like a tornado," she said. "Debris was flying everywhere."

"People were missing and trying to find each other and there was a woman who was trying to tell everyone to stop panicking and she was panicking on the speakers."

The storm has been described as having "hurricane" level winds and marble-sized hail.

Farrell said about 15,000 people were attending the show. The Jamboree is Canada's biggest country music festival.

On her Twitter account, she said Currington's face was bloodied but he appeared to be OK otherwise.

The accident occurred at about 6:00 p.m. local time.

Actor and country singer Kevin Costner was due to perform Saturday evening. Costner went to the hospital to comfort those who were hurt but was not injured himself.

Costner and his band Modern West were due to perform next before the accident.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews

[Thorgnor]

Costner and his band Modern West were due to perform next before the accident.

Dances with DANGER!!!

[Hartamophone]

Sad, scary stuff. I heard Jessie Farrell on the news last night and she was incredibly shaken up, as would be expected.

[bouche]

Kevin Costner..... another movie star using his fame to be a fake .... *cough* .... billy bob thornton ... *cough *....musician?

WSH1NyHWmFE

[Esau.]

Kevin Costner..... another movie star using his fame to be a fake .... *cough* .... billy bob thornton ... *cough *....musician?

Welcome to 2006.

[ersh]

This is fuckin scary shit. I was in Edmonton yesterday and flew through that storm on the way to Grande Prairie. I've played tons gigs on that style of stage, and have many times looked up and wondered how sturdy they actually are. As I was soundchecking outdoors in Grande Cache AB a few hours ago, I couldn't help but notice the wind and found myself checking out the rigging of the stage above and around me.

[bouche]

I can only imagine that the standards for building a temporary stage in canada doesn't call for a storm of that magnitude. Would a stage like this be put up the same as in Tennessee or Oklahoma?

It sounds like that was a really really freak storm. I remember seeing some crazy ass storms brewing outside of the ottawa bluesfest, but none actually hit that day. I wondered how a major storm like that would affect the setups.

[localcrew]

This is my line of work; being a stagehand. I can say that a different type of stage would have survived this.

The type we use on Parliament Hill (and other locations)would have born these winds as it is designed for the roof to blow off if worse comes to worse. We had quite a microburst a few years ago on July 1st which was so strong that many 1/2 million dollar sound boards were ruined and the show was much impacted but was able to continue as we improvised to make it work.

We had to hold down the catering tent we were in at the time and the wind was so strong that it broke heavy plexiglass windows that are meant to protect the stained glass windows on the Parliament buildings. When the wind is that strong we clear the stage because the ties that hold the roof on will fly around but that is the biggest danger-that and lightning-it is never good to be on a stage like that in lightning. Noone wants a 200 foot heavy duty tarp roof falling on them but it is certainly a better outcome than having the stage collapse.

Events such as the Alberta one should always have minute by minute wheather updates and I am surprised that they didn`t clear the stage and crowd sooner....

They are lucky in Alberta that more people didn't perish.

And as for the Blues fest-those are cheap stages as well which would not likely survive much of a wind. They also skimp on the labour and are not using the most knowledgeable people (the most important of which are the riggers who decide what flies and what doesn`t-our riggers have been asked many times to double check things they have done at Bluesfest and have not come away happy-in fact refusing to be involved or sign off having had all of their recommendations ignored). Their first accident at Bluesfest will likely be their last as they will probably be sued into exinction...

They`re not miles and miles away from being safe but not close enough to avoid tragedy.

[Freak By Night]

Very interesting Dave - thanks for the insight.

[mattm]

as for bluesfest, the chaos from a falling stage would be nothing to the chaos of all the people trying to get around the lawnchairs.

You'd think insurance people would have something to say along these lines (stage, not lawnchairs)...

[Northern Wish]

Festivals plan in advance for emergencies, and man a volunteer watching radar imagery if a potential storm is noted. The problem in Alberta is that the storm moved in so fast there was little time to prep.

But as preparations go, they only advise people ahead of time what to do. When a storm hits some people react calmly and appropriately while others lose their shit.

Keeping costs down is always a concern and I've seen crews that all to often are not trained properly. The stages mostly arrive via a transport truck, and they pop up (think Transformers) out of the trailer with a lot of work. When the stage arrives there is usually one person from the stage company (MSN in Ottawa, out of Montreal) to supervise the setup. I have had very good and very bad experiences with this ie. Last year after the final evening of music I was asked to pull together a crew on the fly to tear down the stage and save the fest about $30 K in late fees as the stage was due in Nashville the next evening. Between the beer from the post party, pitch black work area and having been up since 8am- there were several close calls that might have injured someone. No storm either!

[localcrew]

Weather is always difficult to deal with obviously, which is why there are fewer outdoor events held in Ottawa than there used to be....too bad....though understandable.

Organization is always the key. Your example is a good one as it surely would have been known that the stage had to be moved in advance so really that strike should have been organized from the get go.

The problem there is most likely someone at the top trying to skimp and not being successful.

The crew I work we make them compensate financially for trying to overwork us or making last minute changes-of course they are always aware in advance of the price difference so usually organize themselves much better.

A couple examples come to mind; when we did the Rolling Stones at Landsdowne Park the rig was 2 days late arriving as they had trouble getting the set out of Boston due to heavy restrictions on how they could work on the Baseball field, using a cheap unskilled work force (cost them more in the end-it usually does) and a hassle at the border after a driver was found with dope. So we worked around the clock and got the show up in half the time that were given in every other city.

We made big overtime.....my longest shift was 23 hours which is tough when you're talking big steel-I mean you could have built a bridge with this stuff. The key is having trained people overseeing the safety aspect...even when the situation calls for drastic measures....

In the end we ruined the football field as well which the production company paid for-it was either that or cancel the show as there was no time to be careful with the grounds.

We all got paid lots of overtime and noone got hurt.

Axle Rose also made a lot of money for us when he played here last.....his plane didn't get to the ariport until 11pm as the show was already in progress.....there was a crew of 100 making overtime for sitting on their asses waiting for the show to end which was about 4 hours later that scheduled.......I wasn't one of them because I knew that would happen and didn't want to work until 4am......I took an easier though less lucrative shift at the NAC.....Axle knew it would cost him but didn't care.....that's his prerogative...

You have to be careful when dealing with certain road crews as well. A lot of them are real cowboys and have little regard for safety. I remember at Edgefest years ago at the horsetrack having a situation that I felt was unsafe. I had a guy in a golf cart with one eye, one leg and one arm (not birth defects) telling me "GO ON IT'S SAFE!!!"......I'm glad my outfit has higher standards as I told him to do it himself....

Union crews are always the safest...what can I say....?....