The Events of April 19, 1993 Directory of Exhibits Catalogue of Evidence Library Search Museum Text Print this page
A Combat Engineering Vehicle (CEV) approaching the Mt. Carmel Center.  Captured from CNN April 19, 1993 live coverage (cached).

On April 19, 1993 at about 6 AM, three specially outfitted tanks ("Combat Engineering Vehicles," or CEVs) began the attack on the Mt. Carmel Center. 

While an agent repeated through a loudspeaker, "This is not an assault!  This is not an assault!" the tanks punched holes in the dwelling, crushed parts of the structure, and squirted "CS gas" into the building. 

CS is a riot control agent with similar effects to more conventional tear gas; in this case, it was dissolved in methylene chloride (according to a report by Dr. Jerry Havens, prepared for the Danforth Investigation).  Methylene chloride is a volatile solvent that can cause coma and death.  When methylene chloride vapor is mixed with air and heated above 100°C, it is flammable.  CS was banned in warfare under the January 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, to which the U.S. was signatory.

Linda Thompson's Waco: The Big Lie shows a tank punching through the outside wall and disappearing into the building.  See also Waco Tribune-Herald "Timeline," 6:04 a.m.  That violent assault would have presented a signficant risk to anyone inside the structure, if anyone had been alive.

Between 12:05 and 12:10 p.m., three fires appeared in the Mt. Carmel Center.  The first fire appeared at the southwest corner; the second near the front door; and the third around the chapel/gymnasium.  The fires quickly grew, and gigantic fireball erupted more than a hundred feet in the air over the chapel/gymasium area.  Then the entire Center burned to a fine ash and rubble in about 40 minutes.

When the firetrucks arrived to fight the fire and rescue the residents, the FBI stopped them at the perimeter until little was left of the ruin.  The Waco Tribune-Herald reported:

Waco fire Engine 1 and Engine 3 reached a checkpoint attended by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.  The crew was told the scene was not safe and they had to wait while those who escaped the fire were being held at gunpoint in front of the firefighters.

"When we pulled into Double EE Ranch Road, about halfway down between there and the compound, there were about six to eight people laying there, face down, in handcuffs with people pointing rifles at them," Davis said.

After getting the all clear about 15 minutes later, most of the compound was reduced to ash and crumbled remains.  As they started their work, they could see the full magnitude of the incident.

"You go to a fire to put it out and save lives, but you wind up dodging shell casings and everything else," Germany said.  "Everyone was running around you with guns. It was not a comfortable situation.  You never think you're going to be in that situation." (Waco Tribune-Herald, Apr 18, 2018, "Waco firefighters recall scene at Mount Carmel 25 years after fire.")

Yup, you read that right.  The firemen were not permitted to perform any rescues until all rescue effort became irrelevant.  No one was treated for smoke inhalation, no children were saved, and the "cultists" (whom the firemen mistook for people) were held on the ground at gunpoint.

In reality, no one knows the identity of those people on the ground.  They could have been the "Trojan Horses" — people who were pretending to be followers of David Koresh, but were actually government spies.

Curiously, despite the fireman's recall, no contemporaneous photos show firetrucks near the Mt. Carmel Center.

Next: Prediction of Fire

Up: Introduction to the Fire Gallery
Home: Museum Entrance
Search: Museum Text