St. Louis tent collapse sadly familiar to Hoosiers

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A tent collapse in St. Louis on Saturday that injured many and killed one is reminiscent of the stage rigging collapse at the Indiana State Fair in August.

Straight line winds brought down a tent in St. Louis after the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. The tent had been set up outside popular sports bar Kilroy’s.

As folks celebrated after the game, a storm moved into the area. Experts say a gust of up to 70 mph picked the tent up and brought it back down on the crowd.

One man died, 17 people were taken to the hospital and roughly 100 suffered minor injuries, like cuts and bruises.

This is reminiscent of Aug. 13, 2011, when straight line winds of 43 mph brought down the stage rigging at the Indiana State Fair, killing seven people.

Now, investigators in Missouri are looking into temporary structures, like this tent, that they say aren’t designed to handle severe weather.

Meanwhile, Indiana’s Fire Prevention and Safety Commission will meet this week to consider new guidelines for temporary structures. These will become Indiana’s first official rules for outdoor stage rigging and temporary structures.

The rules are required under a new law Gov. Mitch Daniels signed last month.

Details of those guidelines have not been released.