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| About 70 people were in the facility when the roof was damaged. (Matt Slocum / Associated Press) |
One person was permanently paralyzed from the waist down and several others injured when the Dallas Cowboys training facility collapsed Saturday from high winds.
Owner Jerry Jones was notified of the tragedy in Louisville, where he was attending the Kentucky Derby.
Rich Behm, the team's 33-year-old scouting assistant was permanently paralyzed from the waist down after his spine was severed.
Behm and assistant athletic trainer Greg Gaither, 35, remained
hospitalized. Gaither had surgery on his fractured upper and lower
right leg and was expected to be released this week.
Set for surgery today was Dallas special teams coach, Joe DeCamillus, who suffered a fractured vertibrae. Cowboy officials did not return calls from Fox Sports regarding whether that surgery proceeded today as scheduled. Twelve others suffered lesser injuries that did not require hospitalization.
The company that built the facility — Summit Structures LLC of
Allentown, Pa. — said the roof had been replaced in 2008. The statement
said proper engineering was used during the original construction and
the installation of the new roof. Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple declined to comment on the nature of the work last summer.
Summit
president Nathan Stobbe said he was in Irving on Monday, working with
team and local officials to "fully assess this severe weather event."
The company said it has few answers now on precisely what happened.
About 70 people, including 27 players attending a rookie minicamp, were
in the structure when the storm hit. Wind in the area was clocked at 64
mph, 1 mph shy of the threshold for a weak tornado. National Weather
Service officials said a "microburst" may have pushed the wind beyond
70 mph at the top of the structure that was built in 2003.
Behm, DeCamillis and Gaither were standing on the field when the $4
million structure gave way, sending debris such as the framework and
lights crashing to the ground.
Most players at the minicamp were
drafted the previous weekend or signed as undrafted rookies, but none
was hurt. No veterans were involved. Coaches, support staff and media
were also in the no-frills building, which is essentially a 100-yard
football field with a few more yards of clearance all the way around.
The roof was 80 feet high.
Media were restricted from the Cowboys headquarters through at least a week because of "ongoing work that is
scheduled to take place in the aftermath of the accident."
OSHA
investigates workplace accidents and has six months to make a report.
Todd said a report could come sooner depending on the complexity of the
case. They were on the scene immediately.
Summit lists on its Web site several other facilities it built, including one at Texas A&M and one for the New England Patriots.
A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said the school has had no
problems but will reevaluate its policy on practicing in bad weather in
light of this collapse.
"Our facility was put to the test this
past fall when Hurricane Ike hit the Texas gulf coast," he said in a
statement. "Our buildings withstood the high winds and our football
team was not in the facility at that time."
A Pennsylvania court
ruled in 2006 that Summit was negligent in the design and construction
of a membrane-covered building that collapsed in 2003 after a major
snowstorm in Philadelphia. The building was constructed for the
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.Taurus is symbolized by the bull and ruled by the planet Venus. Taureans are considered to be practical, patient, and good-natured; they also can be jealous. They appreciate beauty and are attuned to the physical world. Learn more about Taurus.
 Source: https://foxsports.com