12 hurt as Dallas Cowboys practice facility collapses

By Mac Engel

tengel@star-telegram.com

IRVING — Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who broke bones in his lower back, was among 12 people injured when the team’s indoor practice facility collapsed in an intense storm Saturday afternoon during the team’s rookie minicamp.

Dan Reeves, DeCamillis’ father-in-law and a longtime NFL coach, said DeCamillis is going to be OK, but not before having surgery to repair a couple of broken vertebrae in his lower back. DeCamillis was transported on a stretcher to Parkland Memorial in Dallas.

"As far as we know, he has to have some surgery," Reeves said, when reached at his Atlanta home Saturday night. "They say he is lucky he is not paralyzed."

Assistant scout Rich Behm was also transported to Parkland with a potential serious injury.

Secondary coach Brett Maxie suffered a laceration on his leg and scout Chris Hall suffered multiple injuries to his arm. Neither was hospitalized.

There were no fatalities.

Seven of the injured were treated at Las Colinas Medical Center and all are expected to be released by the end of the night. Three were treated at Parkland Memorial in Dallas. One was treated at the Baylor Medical Center at Irving and another at the Baylor Medical Center at Dallas. Two of the 12 injured were walk-ins.

“Most had bumps and bruises. The most critical we saw was a dislocated shoulder,” said Owen Dewitt, a spokesman at Las Colinas Medical Center. “None of ours was life-threatening.”

There were approximately 70 people inside the facility including players, coaches, media and team support personnel.

Emergency crews were immediately called to the scene to help people trapped underneath the steel frame and heavy, white canvas-like covers that housed the indoor facility. The facility was built in 2003 and cost more than $4 million. It’s approximately 88,000 square feet and covers a 100-yard, synthetic grass field. The peak of the building is 80 feet.

The storm blew through the area around 3:30 p.m. with wind clocked as high as 64 miles per hour. These winds might have contributed to the roof collapse, according to the National Weather Service.

“There was a severe storm moving across that area with a history of producing extremely strong winds,” said meteorologist Greg Patrick said. “The collapse happened about 3:30 p.m. and that’s when the strongest part of the storm was moving across there.”

The National Weather Service had not received any reports of tornadic activity, Patrick said.

A command post is being comprised of Fire, police EMS, public works and emergency operations office.

“This was a unique weather situation. Many teams use these types of structures for practice facilities. It’s something that we will be looking at to make sure that these types of structures aren’t inherently dangerous,” Irving mayor Herbert Gears said.

As the team went through drills and practices, the wind was so intense that the lights from high above began to sway violently for about two minutes. Outside, a portable toilet was blown down and effectively blocked one of the exit doors.

With the winds outside howling, one end of the building began to shake and the structure began to shudder and creak before it collapsed. At that point, players, coaches, scouts and members of the media hurriedly ran over anything to get out from underneath the collapsing structure.

Those located on or near the sidelines had the best chance for a safer escape. Those in the middle of the field had a much more difficult time getting out.

About 3 minutes later when the storm blew over, players and coaches were trying to help other team and staff members get out from under the building.

Everyone inside the structure at the time was visibly shaken and frightened. Cowboys coach Wade Phillips was trying to direct emergency crews to at least three people who were trapped.

Hall was one of the front-office members trapped underneath the frame, but was speaking clearly.

“We have completed our secondary search. The incident is somewhat stabilized now,” Irving assistant fire chief Rusty Wilson said. “We actually have de-mobilized somewhat at this point.”

Mitch Mitchell and Clarence E. Hill Jr. contributed to this report.

Looking for comments?