This morning, two important reports will be released and we should learn new details of critical decisions leading up to the deadly State Fair stage collapse.
The findings of these two investigations will be made public at the Farm Bureau building on the fairgrounds this morning at 11 o'clock. We hope to learn exactly what went wrong. Was the weather to blame, was human error a factor or was it a combination?
Victims, their families and the public in general has been waiting anxiously for the past eight months to find out exactly what went wrong the night of August 13. This morning, we expect to have some answers.
The tragedy is having a ripple effect of lessons learned. Last night, board members from county fairs around Indiana met in Shelbyville to discuss and tweak their own emergency plans. They met with experts who specialize in emergency planning and preparedness. All of this came to light because of what happened at the State Fair on August 13. The hope is to keep families safe while they attend their county fairs this summer.
Clark is a member of the Marion County Fair board, and said last night's meeting was mainly about fine tuning what they already have in place and "making sure that no matter what, we're prepared - that's it."
They went over severe weather preparedness and exactly what steps to take in the event of an emergency.
"I think there will be many people that will be thinking about that," Clark said. "Not just the fairgoers, but any outdoor event that may be happening. Everyone's been a little bit more cautious in what potentially could happen. I know for us we are concerned about that and in Indiana anything can happen at any time, we all know that."
The findings of the investigations of the August 13 stage collapse at the State Fair will be divided into two reports. On the structural side, we hope to learn how the collapse happened, and on the human side, the decision-making steps leading up to the accident.
You can watch this live this morning, either on Channel 13 or streaming at WTHR.com
