Tour a production at the Provo Tabernacle. A good friend is the audio guy and he wants to show off his toys. Walk through the building. See some things I've never seen done there before. Express concern to my tour-mates. Neglect to express concern to anyone else.
Head back to work. Don't think anything more of it.
Friday, December 17, 2010 4:25am
Wake up to the sound of the Mrs. heading off to work (This happens most mornings- she slams the door, I wake up.) Grab my phone, for some reason I dial up the internet and head over to KSL.com. Headline: Provo Tabernacle on fire. Instantly I think: "Those guys ran some bad cabling or left something plugged in and it sparked some dry fuel into a blaze.
I grab my camera and head over to take a picture or two- thinking I can head to work for a few minutes before the kiddies get up at 7:00.
5:54 am- Picture taken as I stand across the street. it looks pretty bad, but it seems they have it under control.
5:56am- Picture taken as I still stand across the street. Only this time the entire roof has collapsed, taking down the gables and most of the stained glass. I described the sound and my feelings on the matter in a blog post, linked below. Still reverberating in my ears, over 3 months later.
I determine that I'm going to hang out until I have to go be a parent. I begin to walk the perimeter of the building the best I can.
6:40am- I talk to my friend Roger- the generator technician for the production- who has been here most of the night watching this happen. He lets me know that the generators were off at 11pm and the cabling for them had been put into the building and secured. He's visibly shaken, possibly in shock. We talk about the sentimental losses. A bunch of firefighters walk by just as Roger and I are discussing the sketchy rigging and lighting services for the production- one of the firefighters stops in his tracks. He doesn't talk to me, but continues walking.
7:00am- I run home to be a parent. Wake the kids, make lunches.
7:29am- Kids leave. I download all my pictures to my computer. Start writing a blog post.
8:09am- Post blog post. Post about blog post on Facebook.
8:32am- Post a couple Facebook posts about the incident.
Fast Forward to March 31, 2011 10:10am
Provo Fire Marshall releases the final report on his findings and research into the cause and circumstance of the fire.
10:41am- I read the Executive Summary report. On page 3 I see a picture that takes my breath away. It is the Tabernacle exactly as I remember it from the afternoon of 12/16. How exactly? I'm in the picture. In the group of people in the lower right. And the thing that makes me sick is that we are talking about the sketchy techniques being employed in the production. Including someone pointing at the ceiling.
Basic production ethics and respect has always dictated that you don't question other production teams on their techniques unless you see evidence of safety hazards or gross misuse of equipment. If I had gone into the attic that day, as I felt I should, I would have raised a huge stink about what I saw. And the Provo Tabernacle would still be intact.
Now, I'm forced to raise a stink about any kind of crappy production techniques I see. Be prepared, because I'm gonna get a reputation for being the cranky know-it-all guy that gets in people's face about safety and procedures.
I can't have this on my conscience again. Once is bad enough.
I've been spanked.
1 comment:
Preventable disasters are so devastating. You probably would have had your ass chewed if you had said something. I hope you believe me when I tell you that it was not your fault for not saying something.
I'm glad that as horrible as this fire was, at least no one was hurt. I'm glad you will get after people in the future. What if it saves a life?
And, I really feel sorry for the guy who placed the bulb on the wood. He probably knew better and I am sure he regrets it.
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