Still waiting on a lot of news this early afternoon in regards to Saturday night's Electric Daisy Carnival at Fair Park. All morning long city officials -- including Fire-Rescue folk, Medical Emergency Services folk, etc. -- have been tied up in meetings about the event, which saw dozens hospitalized and even resulted in at least one death. Representatives from the event's promoters, Insomniac Events, have been present at these meetings as well.
They're not the only ones meeting today, either. In Las Vegas this morning, police officials have been in meetings, discussing the Dallas event to further prepare their own city for this upcoming weekend's two-day Electric Daisy Carnival event there.
But until these meetings let out -- we're told that information on what was discussed should be released in the next hour or so -- we're somewhat in the dark on what will happen next, as far as the city goes.
Still, there are a few more notes and thoughts on the matter that are worth sharing, I think.
They're not the only ones meeting today, either. In Las Vegas this morning, police officials have been in meetings, discussing the Dallas event to further prepare their own city for this upcoming weekend's two-day Electric Daisy Carnival event there.
But until these meetings let out -- we're told that information on what was discussed should be released in the next hour or so -- we're somewhat in the dark on what will happen next, as far as the city goes.
Still, there are a few more notes and thoughts on the matter that are worth sharing, I think.
- Initial reports from Dallas Fire-Rescue reported that the deceased was a 15-year-old; this information was inaccurate. The attendee who died was 19-year-old Andrew Graf of Argyle. He was given CPR on site, then transferred to the nearby Baylor Hospital emergency room, where he was pronounced dead.
- So far, we've been careful about saying that there's been "at least" one death. Yesterday, we received word that other hospitalized attendees were in still in critical condition. There's still no word on how their recovery is going; we're currently tracking some leads on that front.
- Most media outlets have been quick to call Electric Daisy Carnival a "rave," us included. This isn't entirely accurate. A far more accurate description would be to simply deem the event an "electronic music festival," as event literature does. Sure, it had all the signs of a rave -- electronic music, scantily clad attendees, most likely some drug use -- but to call it a rave is to also attach a number of other factors to the event, like a lack of organization or security. As Jim already stated in his reaction to the event, a lack of organization or security didn't seem to be an issue at this event.
- To reiterate: There were indeed three lines of security one had to
go through in order to enter the grounds -- one for IDs, one for tickets
and one for body searches. Would it have been possible to sneak illicit
substances onto the grounds? Sure. Was the security doing what it could
to prevent as much? Appeared that way.
- As we reported yesterday morning, there's no way to yet determine if drug use was the cause of the death and hospitalizations. The cause of death has yet to be released and on-site medical staff said they had no on-hand materials to help them determine if those they were treating were suffering from drug complications as opposed to alcohol or heat/dehydration concerns.
- Yes, temperatures hits triple digits on Saturday. In their preparations for the event, Insomniac brought in extra air conditioning units for the inside stages. And, personally, I found the air conditioning at the indoor stages to be surprisingly sufficient.
- Last year's inaugural Dallas event drew 11,000 attendees. This year's event sold out in advance, with most estimates placing the numbers somewhere around 23,000 (give or take a couple hundred in either direction). We're still waiting on official numbers from the city and from Insomniac Events at this point. Even so, with some two dozen hospitalizations reported, plus other health concerns handled by the on-site post commands set up toward the end of the evening, that leaves somewhere around 22,900 or so folks that attended this event without incident.
- Yes, water was being sold by vendors on the site. But there were also free water filling stations located throughout the grounds for those looking to fill or refill their containers.
- At least six emergency medical vehicles were set up on the fairgrounds by midnight. According to Lt. Samuel L. Friar of Dallas Fire-Rescue, these vehicles were added due to the "overwhelming" nature of the event, which drew larger numbers than the city had been expecting. As the event drew to a close, both he and Emergency Medical Services director Dr. Paul E. Pepe seemed less concerned with the health issues at the event, and more concerned with the amount of resources being used because of inappropriate preparations for the event.
- At this point, it appears as if the quick end to the night, which came at around 1:30 a.m. after a fire alarm had been pulled in one of the buildings, was unrelated to the hospitalizations and the result of a fire marshal mandate. (See below video).
