Emergency exercise preceded Ind. fair disaster

INDIANAPOLIS — A state agency's report says the Indiana State Fair's executive director and other officials took part in an emergency exercise last July that eerily foreshadowed weather conditions a month later that caused a deadly stage collapse.

The report by the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the July 12 exercise foretold almost the exact conditions of the Aug. 13 tragedy, when seven people were killed after the stage rigging plunged into the crowd.

The scenario imagined high winds, lightning and hail and specifically mentioned the concert by country duo Sugarland, which fans were waiting to hear before the stage collapse.

A state labor department spokesman says it proves the fair commission had insufficiently prepared for the conditions.

On Wednesday, the commission paid a $6,300 IOSHA fine for workplace violations.