Father Mourned After Wood Dale Tent Collapse, Questions Linger About Safety Response
(CBS) – The man killed Sunday when strong winds toppled a tent at a Wood Dale festival was a father of two who was trying to take shelter.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports.
The was identified as 35-year-old truck driver Steven Nincic, amid lingering questions about whether adequate safeguards were in place for stormy weather.
Nincic took his two daughters to Prairie Fest because they wanted him to win some gold fish at a carnie game. And he did.
But as they were leaving, the storm struck and the tent collapsed. Nincic's wife, Nicole, grabbed the kids. But when she looked back, Steven was on the ground.
"We know most of the injured and obviously we knew the deceased," Wood Dale Police Deputy Chief Mike Rivas says.
Was the city prepared to do evacuations in the event of dangerous weather?
"The weather hit so suddenly and it was a large gust of wind, hail," Rivas tells CBS 2.
Records show the weather service issued a severe thunderstorm warning, including for DuPage County, at 1:54 p.m., a hour before the storm hit Prairie Fest. Then at 2:21p.m., there was another warning about storms over Bartlett and Carol Stream, just 10 miles away.
Nineteen minutes later, at 2:40 p.m., the storm devastated Prairie Fest.
Even companies renting big tents give this warning: "When you have a lightning storm in the vicinity, the best course of action is to evacuate the tent."
Wood Dale officials would not comment further on the incident.
