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04/20/93
Witnesses stunned, horrified by fire's speed and intensity
By Jennifer Files / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-For the law enforcement officers and news crews who had watched and waited for 51 days, the fire that brought down the Branch Davidian compound Monday turned tedium back into tragedy.
Numbed by the speed and ferocity of the flames that engulfed the cult compound and killed an unknown number of cult members, the observers found a variety of emotions flitting past: relief, horror, guilt, confusion.
"I can't tell you the shock and the horror that all of us felt when
we saw those flames coming out,' said FBI Special Agent Bob Ricks. "We
thought, "Oh my God, they are killing themselves.' '
All the witnesses to the destruction had questions about what happened-and why-but there were no answers.
"It probably was a suicide pact,' said David Voelkel, 35, who was in Waco on a detour before returning home from a weekend trip to Austin.
"To me it seems like a cop-out by David Koresh. He's gone this far.
Why did he end it this way? Why did he quit and give up when he fought so long?' Mr. Voelkel asked.
As for cult members who he believes followed Mr. Koresh to their deaths, he said, "I don't believe anyone's the Messiah on this planet, but if you believe in something that strongly, to just cop out and give up-the whole thing seems so useless.'
The Branch Davidian children seemed uppermost in the minds of many people who witnessed the long siege and its fiery conclusion.
"A loss of life like this is so tragic,' said Waco Mayor Bob Sheehy. "We haven't seen yet, but if the children are involved too-I have six children and six grandchildren-that hits hard to me personally.'
Greg David, a manager of Waco's Elite Cafe, where customers and workers watched the events unfold on TV, said he feared that the city would be associated with the cult and its deeds.
"I think Waco'bered for that,' Mr. David said.
"It's sad that it came to this ending,' Mr. Sheehy said. "All of us
felt there was a good chance that it would end peacefully. I don't have any way to express just how deeply I feel.'
As has been the case since the news media encampment was established soon after the siege began, journalists had only a limited view of what was happening.
"You see all this activity, you see fire, hear artillery, but you don't see any humans,' said Matt Flores, a reporter with the San Antonio Express-News .
"We figured they would just come out with the gas going,' said David Todd, bureau chief for Waco television station KCEN. "We never expected the fire.
"Then it sets in that, my God, there's people inside. They're not just David Koresh. . . . Innocent or guilty, they're people.'
Mr. Todd's KCEN colleague Olivia Fernandez fumbled for the words to describe what she was feeling while the compound burned to the ground.
"The most horrible thing is . . . ' she said, and then described the rumor that Mr. Koresh had told his followers they had to stay in the compound "until they see God.'
"They're only doing what they've been told all their lives to do.
It makes you sick for them,' she said.
Lisa Turner, a field producer with ABC News, had been at the compound for 51 days.
"It didn't surprise me that they gassed the place,' Ms. Turner said. "It didn't surprise me they were knocking holes in the wall. The fire did surprise me.
"I'm real sad about the way it ended,' she said, shaking her head.
As a parent, Ms. Turner added, "I'm appalled. . . . He killed them
all. It's totally outside my realm of understanding.'
Staff writer Todd J. Gillman in Waco and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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