What happened at Texas A&M during the Aggie Bonfire? Revisiting the tragic incident 24 years later

In 1999, a tragedy occurred at Texas A&M when the construction of the school's annual bonfire collapsed, killing 12 students, one alumni and injuring 27 other individuals. Ever since, the school declared an official ban on building the woodwork. However, in 2002, a student-sponsored coalition constructed an annual unsanctioned, off-campus "Student Bonfire" in the spirit of its predecessor.

For over 90 years, the Aggies built one on campus every Autumn, ahead of the football season. The students used to say that the tradition symbolized a "burning desire to beat the hell outta t.u., 't.u." standing for rival school Texas University.

The tradition was traditionally lit around Thanksgiving, ahead of the annual game with the Longhorns. In 1969, they set a World Record for the largest one ever.

Recollections of the Survivors of the 1999 Aggie Bonfire

Brittny Allison was one of the Texas A&M students working at the 1999 Bonfire when the accident occurred. In her witness statement, she recalled what happened as follows:

"I remembered to give with it,” she later said in her witness statement, “because I didn’t want my face to get injured.”

She decided to ride with it after realizing that if she jumped out of the bonfire, she would be directly in the path of the falling logs.

Collin Zacek, a member of the school's Cadet Corps, worked on the tradition that year. He later said the following about what he saw that day:

“I saw people jumping and trying to get away,” his statement read. “I saw some crushed to death in less than a second. We all froze in shock, as if we had turned to stone. The log we were carrying fell to the ground.”

Another Texas A&M survivor, Lucas Gregory, expressed his shock at surviving the horrible ordeal by saying the following in his witness statement:

“After I realized that the stack had quit moving and I was not dead, I tried to get up,”

Jeremy Worley, a Texas A&M student who was standing on the second deck, fell 34 feet during the accident. He described falling as an almost surreal experience:

“It happened so quickly, yet at the same time, it almost seemed like slow motion.”