Texas A&M Makes Decision On Bonfire Tradition

Texas A&M University has decided not to bring back the student bonfire tradition it discontinued 25 years ago after a deadly accident, President Mark Welsh III said Tuesday.

For decades, students built a 60-foot bonfire every year ahead of football matches between A&M and the University of Texas at Austin. The event was billed as the “world’s largest bonfire,” drawing thousands to the College Station campus.

On November 18, 1999, 12 people died and 27 others were injured when a stack of bonfire logs collapsed, after which the 90-year tradition ended. The stack of 5,000 logs was 59 feet tall when it collapsed.

Regent John Bellinger, who chaired the committee, reached out to families of all 12 Aggies who died in the 1999 tragedy to get their input about restarting the tradition.

Welsh said he considered input from the university community before making his decision. Most of those who gave their feedback said they did not want the bonfire to return.

A remembrance event will be held this year on the 25th anniversary of the collapse.

Texas Tech also does a big bonfire every year for homecoming and since they have not had any problems their celebration will continue like always.

The bonfire consists of wooden pallets that are stacked tall for everyone to see, but what is not seen is the amount of work the Saddle Tramps put into making the bonfire possible.

A week of events leads up to Saturday's Homecoming football game, and the weekend will kick off Friday with the parade, pep rally and bonfire. The Tech community will gather at these events.

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