25th Anniversary: 12 Students Killed by College Station Bonfire Tragedy

November 18th, 1999 saw one of Texas A&M's darkest days in university history. This was the day that 12 students lost their lives in a horrible accident during one of the happiest times of the year: the annual Aggie bonfire.

Texas A&M 1999 Bonfire

According to the university website, early morning on Nov. 18th 1999, Texas A&M students were building a massive bonfire using over a million pounds of timber that collapsed, instantly killing 11 students standing near the pile and sending one other student to the hospital who later succumbed to their injuries.

WFAA provides further details on what happened. They say that witnesses heard moaning and creaking just seconds before the collapse. The sheer weight of the stack was too much. The shape of the stack was similar to a wedding cake with multiple tiers.

Originally, when the bonfire first began between 1907 and 1969, the stack more closely resembled a scrap pile or a teepee. 1969 also saw the highest recorded height, 105 feet, which was quickly restricted to 55 feet from then on due to the fire hazard it posed to the campus.

How Did the Tragedy Happen?

There were a few causes that could have resulted in the collapse. According to an investigative report, WFAA includes that improper construction and lack of university supervision were the leading causes.

The lower tier of the bonfire "wedding cake" was faulty and students were filling the missing gaps by wedging logs inside.

The 12 who were killed during the incident included five freshmen, four sophomores, one junior, one senior and a former student who already graduated. Texas A&M provides the names and photos of each who lost their lives 25 years ago.

A memorial was built in 2003 to serve as a reminder and to keep the names of the deceased alive, and the annual bonfire was discontinued ever since.

Texasarchive.org explained the failure of the structure in detail.